Antral Somatostatin Contents and Acidity of Gastric Juice in Normal Subjects and Patients with Duodenal Ulcer

The antral somatostatin contents were investigated in biopsy specimens of the antrum from normal subjects and patients with duodenal ulcer. There was good correlation (r=0.77044) between antral somatostatin contents and maximal acidity in normal subjects, but the correlation between antral somatostatin contents and maximal acid output was not significant (r=0.254367). This result may indicate that antral somatostatin content is regulated by intragastric pH in normal subjects. On the other hands, no correlation was observed between antral somatostatin contents and acidity or acid output in patients with duodenal ulcer. Therefore the impaired regulation of acid on antral somatostatin contents could be one of the important factors in the pathogenesis of duodenal ulcer disease

Effects of Inotropic Drugs on Mechanical Function and Oxygen Balance in Postischemic Canine Myocardium: Comparison of Dobutamine, Epinephrine, Amrinone, and Calcium Chloride

Brief ischemic episodes that induce myocardial and coronary endothelial dysfunction may alter the responses to inotropic drugs. To determine the effects of inotropic drugs in stunned myocardium, the coronary blood flow (CBF), myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO2), and regional mechanical function in response to intracoronary dobutamine, epinephrine, amrinone, and calcium chloride (CaCl2) were measured before (normal) and 30 min after a 15-min-period occlusion of the left anterior descending artery (stunned) in an open-chest canine model. Percent segment shortening (%SS) and post-systolic shortening (%PSS) were determined. Myocardial extraction of oxygen (EO2) and lactate (Elac) was calculated. The inotropic drugs increased %SS, CBF, and MVO2 in normal myocardium. Epinephrine and amrinone decreased, while dobutamine and CaCl2 did not affect EO2. The ischemia and reperfusion itself significantly reduced %SS and Elac, and increased %PSS. In stunned myocardium, the responses to inotropic drugs were not significantly altered, except that they progressively reduced %PSS and epinephrine did not affect EO2. These findings indicate that a brief episode of ischemia does not affect the mechanical and metabolic coronary flow responses to inotropic drugs, although it abolishes direct vasodilator responses to epinephrine

Experimental study of circulating catecholamines on contractility and oxygen consumption in excised cross-circulated dog heart

The author studied the effects of circulating catecholamines (CA) on both the left ventricular (LV) contractility index (Emax) and the relationship between LV O(2) consumption (VO(2)) and systolic pressure-volume area (PVA) in 11 excised cross-circulated dog heart preparations. Adrenal medullary stimulation (AMS) of the support dog caused frequencydependent increases in circulating CA. The correlation between the increases in Emax and CA was statistically significant in each heart preparation, but the sensitivity of Emax to CA varied widely. The VO(2)-PVA data point under fixed LV end-diastolic and stroke volumes moved linearly right-upward with increases in Emax. The slope of the VO(2)-PVA locus was steeper than the slope of the reference VO(2)-PVA relationship in control contractility. An infusion of exogenous epinephrine produced similar results to that obtained in the AMS run. The present results indicated a similarity between the effects of endogenous and exognenous catecholamines on both Emax and the elevation of the VO(2)-PVA relation in each heart preparation with a variability in the sensitivity of the elevation of the VO(2)-PVA relationship varied widely among the individual hearts

Experimental study of circulating catecholamines on contractility and oxygen consumption in excised cross-circulated dog heart

The author studied the effects of circulating catecholamines (CA) on both the left ventricular (LV) contractility index (Emax) and the relationship between LV O(2) consumption (VO(2)) and systolic pressure-volume area (PVA) in 11 excised cross-circulated dog heart preparations. Adrenal medullary stimulation (AMS) of the support dog caused frequencydependent increases in circulating CA. The correlation between the increases in Emax and CA was statistically significant in each heart preparation, but the sensitivity of Emax to CA varied widely. The VO(2)-PVA data point under fixed LV end-diastolic and stroke volumes moved linearly right-upward with increases in Emax. The slope of the VO(2)-PVA locus was steeper than the slope of the reference VO(2)-PVA relationship in control contractility. An infusion of exogenous epinephrine produced similar results to that obtained in the AMS run. The present results indicated a similarity between the effects of endogenous and exognenous catecholamines on both Emax and the elevation of the VO(2)-PVA relation in each heart preparation with a variability in the sensitivity of the elevation of the VO(2)-PVA relationship varied widely among the individual hearts