It has previously been shown that nitric oxide (NO) synthase is involved in the development of opioid tolerance. The aim of the present work was to study the effect of NO on μ-opioid receptor (MOR) desensitization. Furthermore, we explored the possible role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in this effect. Single-unit extracellular and whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were performed on locus co...

Endothelial dysfunction is important in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. No study has examined endothelial function sequentially at different gestations before development of the clinical syndrome and after delivery (to compare maternal from placental influences). We sought to determine whether endothelial function changes before the clinical development of preeclampsia. We measured skin mi...

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were monitored in six normal baboons and six further animals in which an artificial subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) had been induced one week previously. MAP was reduced by the infusion of sodium nitroprusside. In the normal animals with administration of sodium nitroprusside, CBF increased initially but started to decrease as MAP was re...

OBJECTIVE Vascular disease in type 1 diabetes is a complex and multifactorial process, which probably begins in childhood in association with the onset of diabetes. To determine the possible factors involved, we measured microvascular responses to endothelium-dependent (acetylcholine) and endothelium-independent (sodium nitroprusside) vasodilators in 56 patients with type 1 diabetes (aged 9-22 ...

The renal and hemodynamic effects of intravenously administered fenoldopam mesylate, a novel dopamine-1 receptor agonist, were compared with those of sodium nitroprusside in 28 patients (18 male; 26 black, two white; average age, 49 +/- 3 years) with an average blood pressure of 219/137 mm Hg, most of whom presented with acute target organ damage. Fenoldopam and nitroprusside lowered blood pres...

BACKGROUND The regulation of renal sympathetic activity in the setting of heart failure is largely unexplored. We used the norepinephrine spillover method to address the hypothesis that baroreflex control of renal sympathetic activity is blunted in heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty-two patients were studied, 11 in a group with heart failure and 11 in a group with normal ventricular fu...

In an open-label study, we compared the efficacy and safety of intravenous infusion of fenoldopam mesylate with that of sodium nitroprusside in patients with severe hypertension or in hypertensive crisis. Both antihypertensive medications were infused at a maximal dose increment of 0.2 microgram/kg/min (fenoldopam) and 1 microgram/kg/min (nitroprusside), with a maximal infusion rate of 1.5 micr...

OBJECTIVE Elevated pulmonary vascular resistance and transpulmonary gradient are predictors of increased perioperative mortality in patients undergoing orthotopic heart transplantation. Sodium nitroprusside and prostacyclin PGI2 are routinely used to assess the reversibility of pulmonary vascular resistance and transpulmonary gradient in heart transplant candidates, but their use is limited by ...