Acute Hemodynamic Effects of Pinacidil in Hypertensive Patients with and without Propranolol Pretreatment

Abstract

To study the systemic and regional hemodynamic effects of the new antihypertensive agent pinacidil, the authors administered intravenously two doses of pinacidil (0.1 mg/kg) to patients with hypertension after 3 days of randomized, double-blind pretreatment with either propranolol or placebo. Pinacidil administration decreased systemic arterial pressure and total peripheral vascular resistance in both groups of patients. It also decreased pulmonary artery wedge pressure, and increased cardiac output, heart rate, and plasma norepinephrine levels; the changes in cardiac output and heart rate were attenuated by propranolol pretreatment. In addition, propranolol-pretreated patients responded to pinacidil with a decrease in forearm blood flow. In contrast, pinacidil administration exerted no significant effects on right atrial pressure, stroke volume, or mean pulmonary arterial pressure alone or in combination with propranolol. The results show that pinacidil is a potent arterial dilator but has little effect on the venomotor tone in patients with hypertension.

Extracranial activation of ATP-sensitive potassium channels induces vasodilation without nociceptive effects

“…Due to combined cardioprotective and vasodilatory properties, K ATP channels are considered as a target for several cardiac conditions. The systemic administration of non-neuronal KCO leads to systemic vasodilation accompanied by increase in cardiac output, heart rate and circulating levels of norepinephrine and plasma renin activity (37). The present data showed that levcromakalim increased skin blood flow in humans and further support the previous findings.…”

Vasorelaxing effect of the potassium (K+)-channel opener pinacidil in isolated porcine ciliary arteries

“…Pinacidil belongs to a first generation of K ATP channel opener. It is registered as an antihypertensive drug in Belgium (Therapress ) and Danmark (Pindac ) and the antihypertensive potency of the drug has been shown in several clinical studies [3,16,17,18,19,20,21,22].…”