Acute and chronic dose-response relationships for angiotensin, aldosterone, and arterial pressure at varying levels of sodium intake.
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We examined the acute and chronic dose-response relationships between intravenously infused angiotensin II (A II) and the resulting changes in arterial pressure and plasma aldosterone concentration at varying levels of sodium intake. Sequential analysis of plasma aldosterone at each A II infusion rate resulted in an acute dose-related increase in plasma aldosterone which was markedly attenuated after the first 24 hours of infusion, the final level being directly related to the dose of A II and inversely related to sodium intake. A II infused at 5,15, and 23 ng/kg per min was associated with an initial increase (2nd to 8th hour) in plasma aldosterone to 2,6, and 9 times control values, respectively, in dogs receiving 40 mEq Na+/day. But, after the 1st day, aldosterone averaged only 1, 1.7, and 3 times control values for the next 2 weeks at the same rates of A II infusion. Dogs receiving 120 mEq Na+/day during A II infusion exhibited only a transient increase in plasma aldosterone during the 1st day. Sustained hypertension developed over a period of a week at all doses of A II at normal and high sodium intake, but did not occur at any dose of A II in sodium-depleted dogs. Increasing sodium intake from 40 to 120 mEq/day resulted in higher levels of hypertension, 125% compared to 140% of ocntrol values for dogs infused with A II, 5.0 ng/kg per min. We conclude that primary angiotensin-induced hypertension need not be associated with increased levels of plasma aldosterone, which appears to remain elevated only with amounts of A II greater than those required to sustain a significant degree of hypertension. (+info)
Central peptidergic neurons are hyperactive during collateral sprouting and inhibition of activity suppresses sprouting.
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Little is known regarding the effect of chronic changes in neuronal activity on the extent of collateral sprouting by identified CNS neurons. We have investigated the relationship between activity and sprouting in oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (VP) neurons of the hypothalamic magnocellular neurosecretory system (MNS). Uninjured MNS neurons undergo a robust collateral-sprouting response that restores the axon population of the neural lobe (NL) after a lesion of the contralateral MNS (). Simultaneously, lesioned rats develop chronic urinary hyperosmolality indicative of heightened neurosecretory activity. We therefore tested the hypothesis that sprouting MNS neurons are hyperactive by measuring changes in cell and nuclear diameters, OT and VP mRNA pools, and axonal cytochrome oxidase activity (COX). Each of these measures was significantly elevated during the period of most rapid axonal growth between 1 and 4 weeks after the lesion, confirming that both OT and VP neurons are hyperactive while undergoing collateral sprouting. In a second study the hypothesis that chronic inhibition of neuronal activity would interfere with the sprouting response was tested. Chronic hyponatremia (CH) was induced 3 d before the hypothalamic lesion and sustained for 4 weeks to suppress neurosecretory activity. CH abolished the lesion-induced increases in OT and VP mRNA pools and virtually eliminated measurable COX activity in MNS terminals. Counts of the total number of axon profiles in the NL revealed that CH also prevented axonal sprouting from occurring. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that increased neuronal activity is required for denervation-induced collateral sprouting to occur in the MNS. (+info)
Drug-induced hyponatraemia in psychogenic polydipsia.
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Two patients with psychogenic polydipsia developed hyponatraemia, one in association with administration of hydrochlorothiazide and the other with that of tolbutamide. It is suggested that the increased fluid intake in such patients may make them more susceptible to the development of hyponatraemia from thiazide or sulphonylurea compounds. (+info)
Incidence and risk factors for hyponatraemia following treatment with fluoxetine or paroxetine in elderly people.
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AIMS: To establish the incidence, time course and risk factors of hyponatraemia complicating treatment with fluoxetine or paroxetine in an elderly population. METHODS: Retrospective descriptive and case control study in an inpatient/outpatient assessment and rehabilitation service for people aged 65 years and over. Fourteen elderly patients with hyponatraemia complicating treatment with fluoxetine or paroxetine, matched with 56 controls drawn from 845 patients treated with fluoxetine or paroxetine over 3.5 years. No other SSRI antidepressants were used over the study period. RESULTS: The incidence of hyponatraemia was 4.7/1000 people treated/year (6.3/1000 for fluoxetine and 3.5/1000 for paroxetine). Hyponatraemia was detected at a median 13.5 (mean 18.6, range 4-64) days after commencing the drug. Mean (95% confidence intervals) body weights were lower in cases at 53.0 (95% CI 46.5-59.5) kg compared with controls at 64.5 (95% CI 60.1-68.4) kg (P<0.01). 71% of cases were women compared with 45% of controls (P=0.07) but the effect of gender was confounded by body weight. There were trends for cases to be older (odds ratio 1.10: 95% CI 0.99, 1.23) and lighter (odds ratio 0.92, 95% CI 0.86, 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 1 in 200 elderly people treated per year with fluoxetine or paroxetine developed complicating hyponatraemia. Low body weight was a particular risk factor. Most cases occurred within 3 weeks of treatment. (+info)
Hyponatremic-hypertensive syndrome with renal ischemia: an underrecognized disorder.
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Renal artery stenosis or occlusion causing the hyponatremic-hypertensive syndrome has been rarely reported. Our impression, however, was that the disorder is not uncommon. Case records from patients in one city (population 350 000) presenting between 1980 and 1997 with hypertension, hyponatremia, and evidence of renal ischemia were scrutinized. Thirty-two patients fulfilling inclusion criteria were identified. Admission supine arterial pressures were high (mean 228/124 mm Hg), but there was a vigorous fall in pressure on standing (26/12.7 mm Hg recorded in 27 patients). Mean plasma concentrations of sodium (129.7 mmol/L) and potassium (2.7 mmol/L) were low, and 24-hour urine protein excretion was elevated in 19 of 26 patients. Twenty-two of the 32 patients were female, the majority were asthenic, and all but 5 were smokers. Symptoms precipitating hospitalization were headache, clouding of consciousness, confusion, weakness, weight loss, thirst, and polyuria. Plasma renin levels, measured in 20 patients, were elevated in most cases and correlated inversely (r=-0.63, P<0.01) with the plasma sodium concentration. The hyponatremic-hypertensive syndrome in patients with renal ischemia is not rare: Rather, it is underreported. It tends to affect elderly asthenic women who smoke heavily. Stimulation of renin release from the ischemic kidney is probably central to the pathophysiology. The syndrome deserves better recognition to ensure appropriate investigations and management. (+info)
Hyponatraemia: biochemical and clinical perspectives.
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Hyponatraemia is a common bio-chemical abnormality, occurring in about 15% of hospital inpatients. It is often associated with severe illness and relatively poor outcome. Pathophysiologically, hyponatraemia may be spurious, dilutional, depletional or redistributional. Particularly difficult causes and concepts of hyponatraemia are the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis and the sick cell syndrome, which are discussed here in detail. Therapy should always be targeted at the underlying disease process. 'Hyponatraemic symptoms' are of doubtful importance, and may be more related to water overload and/or the causative disease, than to hyponatraemia per se. Artificial elevation of plasma sodium by saline infusion carries the risk of induction of osmotic demyelination (central pontine myelinolysis). (+info)
Effect of liver disease and transplantation on urea synthesis in humans: relationship to acid-base status.
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It has been suggested that hepatic urea synthesis, which consumes HCO-3, plays an important role in acid-base homeostasis. This study measured urea synthesis rate (Ra urea) directly to assess its role in determining the acid-base status in patients with end-stage cirrhosis and after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Cirrhotic patients were studied before surgery (n = 7) and on the second postoperative day (n = 11), using a 5-h primed-constant infusion of [15N2]urea. Six healthy volunteers served as controls. Ra urea was 5.05 +/- 0.40 (SE) and 3.11 +/- 0.51 micromol. kg-1. min-1, respectively, in controls and patients with cirrhosis (P < 0. 05). Arterial base excess was 0.6 +/- 0.3 meq/l in controls and -1.1 +/- 1.3 meq/l in cirrhotic patients (not different). After OLT, Ra urea was 15.05 +/- 1.73 micromol. kg-1. min-1, which accompanied an arterial base excess of 7.0 +/- 0.3 meq/l (P < 0.001). We conclude that impaired Ra urea in cirrhotic patients does not produce metabolic alkalosis. Concurrent postoperative metabolic alkalosis and increased Ra urea indicate that the alkalosis is not caused by impaired Ra urea. It is consistent with, but does not prove, the concept that the graft liver responds to metabolic alkalosis by augmenting Ra urea, thus increasing HCO-3 consumption and moderating the severity of metabolic alkalosis produced elsewhere. (+info)
Syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone associated with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.
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A 79-year-old woman suffering from urinary incontinence and unsteady gait was diagnosed as having idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) with hyponatremia due to the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH). The concentration of antidiuretic hormone was high while the plasma osmolality was low in the presence of concentrated urine during the episodes of hyponatremia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head showed enlargement of the third and lateral ventricles. After ventriculoperitoneal shunt surgery, the symptoms of NPH and hyponatremia improved. It may be possibly explained that mechanical pressure on the hypothalamus from the third ventricle is responsible for hyponatremia. (+info)