Changes in potassium balance have been found to have variable effects on the blood pressure of animals, and the administration of potassium supplements has been reported to lower the blood pressure of normokalemic hypertensive patients. To assess the effect of potassium repletion in hypokalemic hypertension, we administered either potassium chloride, 60 mmol per day, or placebo tablets, each for six weeks, in a randomized, double-blind, crossover trial to 16 hypertensive patients who had diuretic-induced hypokalemia and who continued to take a constant amount of diuretic. We selected patients whose control serum potassium levels were below 3.5 mmol per liter. In association with an average rise in the serum potassium concentration of 0.56 mmol per liter, the mean blood pressure fell by an average of 5.5 mm Hg (P = 0.004), with at least a 4 mm Hg fall observed in 9 of the 16 patients. The fall in blood pressure correlated with a fall in plasma renin activity (r = 0.568, P = 0.043) but not with changes in plasma aldosterone levels or other variables. We conclude that short-term potassium supplementation that ameliorates diuretic-induced hypokalemia may induce a significant fall in blood pressure.
The purpose of the present study was to examine ovulation rates and embryo numbers and quality in goats of feral origin following treatment with either Folltropin (Vetrepharm Inc., Ontario, Canada) or Ovagen (Immuno-Chemical Products Ltd., Auckland). The mean +/- s.e.m. numbers of corpora lutea (CL) and embryos recovered after Ovagen treatment (N = 17 animals) were 16.2 +/- 2.1 and 12.6 +/- 1.9 respectively whereas after Folltropin treatment (N = 18 animals), the respective numbers were 16.3 +/- 1.8 and 10.2 +/- 1.6. The mean +/- s.e.m. numbers of good (i.e. transferable) embryos were 11.1 +/- 1.8 in the Ovagen group and 7.9 +/- 1.4 in the Folltropin group. AII the above values for each of the treatment groups were not significantly different from one another. There was a significant linear relationship between the number of CL and number of embryos (p<0.01; R = 0.925) after Ovagen treatment whereas there was no significant relationship after FolItropin treatment (p>0.05; R = 0.461). The proportions of animals producing more than five recoverable embryos after Ovagen (i.e. 76%) or Folltropin treatment (i.e. 72%) were similar although 22% of the Folltropin treated animals produced abnormal or prematurely regressing CL whereas no such CL were found after Ovagen treatment.
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