Study of general haemodynamics in 15 patients with low-renin essential hypertension showed haemodynamic and pathophysiological heterogeneity. However, there was suppression of sympathetic nervous system function in all low-renin patients, regardless of haemodynamic pattern. Subnormal sympathetic nervous activity was manifested by a low normal mean plasma-noradrenaline concentration at rest, dim...

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are commonly propagated by extracerebral inoculation of the infectious agent. Indirect evidence suggests that entry into the central nervous system occurs via the peripheral nervous system. Here we have investigated the role of the sympathetic nervous system in prion neuroinvasion. Following intraperitoneal prion inoculation, chemical or immunological s...

he sympathetic nervous system of the heart is critically involved in the maintenance of cardiovascular homoeostasis by regulating cardiac contractility, conduction, heart frequency and peripheral vasoconstriction.1 It has been shown that a dysfunctional cardiac sympathetic nervous system exerts detrimental effects on the structural and functional integrity of the myocardium, leading to a marked...

Ghrelin is an orexigenic peptide originally isolated from the stomach. Intravenous administration of ghrelin has been shown to elicit a decrease in arterial pressure without a significant change in heart rate (HR), suggesting that ghrelin may act on the central nervous system to modulate sympathetic activity. The aim of the present study was to determine the central effects of ghrelin on cardio...