Endothelial dysfunction has been implicated as a cause of coronary vasospasm in patients with variant angina. This study aimed to determine if endothelium-dependent vasodilation evoked with substance P (SP) was altered at the spastic site where vasospasm was induced by acetylcholine (ACH) in patients with variant angina. It has been shown that SP evokes endothelium-dependent vasodilation with no direct effect on vascular smooth muscle in excised human coronary arteries. SP and ACH were infused into the coronary arteries in nine patients with variant angina in whom coronary arteriograms showed normal or mild atherosclerotic lesions. The vasomotor responses of coronary arteries were assessed by quantitative arteriography. ACH at a high dose (100 micrograms/min) provoked coronary vasospasm associated with anginal attack in all patients. In contrast, SP at graded doses (13.5, 40, and 135 ng/min) caused the dose-dependent and comparable increases in the coronary diameter at the spastic and control sites. ACH at a low dose (10 micrograms/min) also caused comparable vasodilation at the spastic and control sites in patients with normal coronary arteries. Coronary vasodilating responses to SP were comparable in patients with variant angina and those with atypical chest pain. The results indicate that endothelium-dependent vasodilation evoked with SP and ACH at the low dose was present at the vasospastic site in patients with variant angina. These findings suggest that the ACH-induced coronary vasospasm in patients with variant angina results from hyperreactivity of vascular smooth muscle to ACH but not from endothelial dysfunction.
K Egashira, T Inou, A Yamada, Y Hirooka, A Takeshita
Usage data is cumulative from November 2023 through November 2024.
Usage | JCI | PMC |
---|---|---|
Text version | 132 | 1 |
67 | 20 | |
Figure | 0 | 1 |
Scanned page | 281 | 4 |
Citation downloads | 47 | 0 |
Totals | 527 | 26 |
Total Views | 553 |
Usage information is collected from two different sources: this site (JCI) and Pubmed Central (PMC). JCI information (compiled daily) shows human readership based on methods we employ to screen out robotic usage. PMC information (aggregated monthly) is also similarly screened of robotic usage.
Various methods are used to distinguish robotic usage. For example, Google automatically scans articles to add to its search index and identifies itself as robotic; other services might not clearly identify themselves as robotic, or they are new or unknown as robotic. Because this activity can be misinterpreted as human readership, data may be re-processed periodically to reflect an improved understanding of robotic activity. Because of these factors, readers should consider usage information illustrative but subject to change.