Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0018801 (heart failure)
 72,216 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Stimulation of endogenous opiate secretion worsens circulatory dysfunction in several forms of shock, in part by inhibiting sympathetic activity. To investigate whether endogenous opiates have a similar effect in chronic heart failure (HF), we measured beta-endorphin concentrations and hemodynamic responses to naloxone infusion (2 mg/kg bolus + 2 mg.kg-1 x h-1) in six control (C) dogs and eight dogs with low-output HF produced by 3 wk of rapid ventricular pacing. The dogs with HF exhibited reduced arterial blood pressure (C, 123 +/- 4 vs. HF, 85 +/- 7 mmHg; P < 0.01) and cardiac outputs (C, 179 +/- 14 vs. HF, 76 +/- 2 ml.min-1 x kg-1; P < 0.01) and elevated plasma norepinephrine concentrations (C, 99 +/- 12 vs. HF, 996 +/- 178 pg/ml; P < 0.01) but normal beta-endorphin concentrations (C, 30 +/- 11 vs. HF, 34 +/- 12 pg/ml; P = NS). Naloxone produced similar transitory increases in blood pressure (C, 14 +/- 5 vs. HF, 26 +/- 25%) and cardiac output (C, 37 +/- 13 vs. HF, 22 +/- 15%) in both groups (both P = NS). No significant changes in norepinephrine concentration or systemic vascular resistance were observed in either group. These findings suggest that beta-endorphin secretion does not exacerbate circulatory dysfunction in chronic heart failure.
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PMID:Effect of chronic left ventricular failure on beta-endorphin. 133 77

The peptidergic, endogenous opioid system counteracts exogenous and endogenous stress factors. The system will be activated by stress, e.g., also in case of heart failure. The endogenous opioids endorphin, met-enkephalin, leu-enkephalin, dynorphin, casomorphin, and others split from precursor proteins (250-265 amino acids) by a specific proteolytic cleavage. In clinical and experimental heart failure the plasma levels of endorphin and lipotropin are changed as an evidence of the activated opioid system. In patients with chronic heart failure the plasma levels of endorphin and lipotropin are decreased, which is discussed as an exhaustion of the opioid system. In the case of experimentally induced right-heart failure in dogs the plasma levels of endorphin and lipotropin are increased. Morphine antagonists (naloxone hydrochloride) which penetrate into the cerebral system improve the disturbed hemodynamics in dogs with a right-heart failure. The improving effects results from central actions since opiate antagonists, which cannot penetrate the blood-brain-barrier (naloxone methobromide) have no effect. The actions of opioid peptides will be induced by inhibition of the depletion and the reabsorption of catecholamines in synaptic storages (isolated atria from guinea pig). In cultures from cardiac myocytes (chicken ventricle cells) enkephalins induced positive inotropic effects via receptor mediated mechanisms. The results showed modulating activities of endogenous opioids against the effect of activated sympathetic activity.
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PMID:[Role of endogenous opioids in heart failure]. 166 29

The plasma immunoreactive beta-endorphin (ir-beta-EP) contents in 20 healthy volunteers and 30 burned patients (average age: 36 years, average burn area: 38.1% +/- 30.0% of TBSA) were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Results showed that there were significant increases of plasma ir-beta-EP in burned patients, which correlated to the extents of the burn areas positively (r = 0.576). Raised ir-beta-EP contents were also observed in the complications of operation, wound infection, septicaemic shock, heart failure and brain edema, which reached as high as 3,000pg/ml before death. The above findings suggested that the determination of plasma beta-EP might be helpful in understanding injury extent and evaluating prognosis.
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PMID:[Changes in plasma immunoreactive beta-endorphin in burn and its clinical significance]. 181 38

Opiate receptor inhibition causes adrenergic receptor-mediated increases in aortic pressure, cardiac output, and left ventricular contractile function in right heart failure. To study whether the effects of opiate receptor inhibition are mediated by means of an action on the central opiate system, we administered equimolar doses of naloxone hydrochloride and naloxone methobromide (MeBr) and normal saline to heart failure dogs. Chronic stable right heart failure was produced by progressive pulmonary artery constriction and tricuspid valve avulsion. Naloxone hydrochloride caused an increase in mean aortic pressure, cardiac output, left ventricular dP/dt and dP/dt/P, plasma catecholamines, and regional blood flows to the myocardium, quadriceps muscle, kidneys, and splanchnic beds. Plasma beta-endorphin and adrenocorticotropin also increased. In contrast, neither normal saline nor naloxone MeBr (which does not cross the blood-brain barrier) affected the systemic or regional hemodynamics or neurohormones. Naloxone hydrochloride was also administered to anesthetized heart failure dogs. Pentobarbital anesthesia removed cortical perception of nociceptive stimulation, reduced the increase in plasma epinephrine, and abolished vasodilation in skeletal muscle that occurred in conscious dogs after naloxone hydrochloride administration but had no major effects on responses of plasma norepinephrine, systemic hemodynamics, or other regional blood flows to opiate receptor inhibition. Naloxone hydrochloride had no effect in sham-operated dogs. The results indicate that the hemodynamic effects of naloxone are mediated by an action within the central nervous system. Furthermore, since pentobarbital anesthesia did not markedly alter the hemodynamic responses to naloxone hydrochloride, the acute salutary effects of opiate receptor inhibition probably are not caused by removal of the antinociceptive effect of endogenous opioids in heart failure.
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PMID:Opiate receptor antagonism in right-sided congestive heart failure. Naloxone exerts salutary hemodynamic effects through its action on the central nervous system. 254 17

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of transient aortic valve occlusion (balloon valvuloplasty) on vasoactive hormones in patients with heart failure. Plasma atrial natriuretic peptide, vasopressin, aldosterone, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and plasma renin activity were measured before, immediately after, and 30 minutes and 18 to 24 hours following balloon inflation in 18 patients. Mean right atrial and pulmonary wedge pressures were 6 and 18 mm Hg before inflations, respectively, and were unchanged after balloon inflations (5 and 13 mm Hg, respectively). Systemic systolic/diastolic pressures were 139 +/- 8/65 +/- 4 mm Hg before occlusion, decreased to 47 +/- 5/34 +/- 3 mm Hg during occlusion, and returned to baseline after occlusions. Baseline atrial natriuretic peptide levels were 267 +/- 43 pg/ml and increased to 513 +/- 71 pg/ml after balloon inflations. Vasopressin levels before occlusion were 9.1 +/- 2.2 pg/ml and increased to 21.4 +/- 4.8 pg/ml after balloon inflations. Plasma renin activity was 5.4 +/- 1.4 ng/ml/hr before inflations and was not significantly changed after balloon inflations. No clinically significant changes in plasma sodium, potassium, creatinine, and osmolality were observed after the procedure. Aldosterone increased from 23 +/- 4 to 40 +/- 7 ng/dl 10 minutes after the last inflation. Plasma ACTH measured in seven patients with increased aldosterone was 28 +/- 8 pg/ml before and increased to 295 +/- 157 pg/ml 10 minutes after balloon inflations. The increases in natriuretic peptide and vasopressin were likely due to elevated intracardiac and decreased arterial pressures, respectively; they persisted in spite of no clinically significant changes in filling pressures 12 to 24 hours after the procedure.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Stimulation of atrial natriuretic peptide and vasopressin during percutaneous transluminal aortic valvuloplasty. 254 14

The endogenous opiate system is activated in congestive heart failure. because endogenous opioids are known to depress the baroreflex function, we conducted studies to determine whether the increased endogenous opioids play a role in causing the reduced baroreflex function that occurs in heart failure. Right-sided congestive heart failure was produced in 16 dogs by tricuspid avulsion and progressive pulmonary artery constriction. Seven sham-operated dogs were included for comparison. Baroreflex function was measured in the conscious dogs after pretreatment with either normal saline or an opiate-receptor antagonist by bolus administration of phenylephrine. The slope of the regression line relating systolic blood pressure to cardiac cycle (R-R) interval was taken as an index of baroreflex sensitivity. Plasma beta-endorphin was elevated in the dogs with heart failure (15.3 +/- 2.5 pmol/l) compared with the sham-operated dogs (4.2 +/- 0.4 pmol/l, p less than 0.001). The dogs with heart failure also exhibited a reduced baroreflex sensitivity (3.84 +/- 0.19 msec/mm Hg) after saline pretreatment when compared with the sham-operated dogs (10.86 +/- 1.20 msec/mm Hg, p less than 0.001). Administration of naloxone hydrochloride increased the baroreflex sensitivity of dogs with heart failure to 5.16 +/- 0.26 msec/mm Hg (p less than 0.01) but produced no significant effects in sham-operated dogs (11.36 +/- 1.42 msec/mm Hg). To further study the site of action for the effect of naloxone, we measured baroreflex sensitivity in the dogs with heart failure after pretreatment with naloxonazine, a selective mu-receptor antagonist, with ICI 154,129, a selective delta-receptor antagonist, or with naloxone methobromide, a quaternary analogue of naloxone that does not penetrate the blood-brain barrier.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Opiate receptor inhibition improves the blunted baroreflex function in conscious dogs with right-sided congestive heart failure. 255 35

The urophysis, a neurosecretory organ in fish, contains a number of putative hormones, collectively called urotensins. One of these, urotensin I--a straight chain peptide of 38 amino acids--produces a sustained hypotensive action in all mammalian species examined. In the anesthetized dog, the hypotensive action of native urotensin I is due to specific dilatation of the mesenteric vascular bed, the peptide having no significant actions on other vascular beds. Recent work has established that urotensin I is similar in structure to sauvagine and ovine corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF). Synthetic urotensin I and synthetic sauvagine both share the ability of synthetic ovine CRF to release adrenocorticotropin from cultured pituitary cells. All these synthetic peptides appear to lower blood pressure in the dog by the mechanism established for native urotensin I: selective mesenteric vasodilatation. The selectivity of the mesenteric vascular response suggests that a similar endogenous peptide might be the physiological regulator of gut blood flow. These peptides, or analogs, may also prove to be of value in ischemic bowel disease or anastomotic gastrointestinal surgery, or in reduction of afterload in heart failure.
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PMID:Mammalian pharmacology of the fish neuropeptide urotensin I. 684 83

We analyzed the serum anion gap (AG = sodium plus potassium minus chloride plus bicarbonate, N = 11-21 mEq/l), serum uric acid and urea concentrations in hyponatremia of various origins. We found that characteristic chemical patterns emerged in association with different hypotonic states: Low uric acid concentration was typically observed in the SIADH and in hyponatremia related to hypopituitarism. The same observation was also frequently noted in hyponatremia secondary to diuretics or to polydypsia. In the SIADH, we observed a decrease in the AG but to a greater extent (-26%) than one would expect from the simple dilutional effect (-16%). Fifty percent of the patients presented an AG lower than 11 mEq/l. In patients with diuretic-related hyponatremia, one group presented an hypouricemia and a low AG as in SIADH (reflecting volume expansion), in the other group the AG was normal or increased as was uric acid concentration (reflecting volume depletion). In adrenocorticotropin deficiency, hyponatremia was typically associated with a low bicarbonate concentration, a normal AG and hypouricemia. In polydypsic patients with hyponatremia, the AG was usually normal or increased despite sometimes very low sodium levels. Uric acid levels were highly variable, most often decreased. We also noted in these patients that the serum urea levels were correlated with urine osmolality (R = +0.8; p < 0.001), and in 40% of them we observed very low blood urea concentration (0.5-2 mmol/l) at the admission time. In hyponatremia related to cardiac failure or cirrhosis, the AG was usually normal despite mild hypoproteinemia.
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PMID:Uric acid, anion gap and urea concentration in the diagnostic approach to hyponatremia. 852 2

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor therapy in conjunction with loop diuretics and, possibly, digoxin, is associated with a relatively high incidence of recurrent heart failure and death. Even high doses of ACE inhibitors may not completely suppress the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system; aldosterone "escape' may occur through non-angiotensin II dependent mechanisms involving corticotropin, atrial natriuretic peptide, serum potassium, and deficient high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. Addition of spironolactone (an aldosterone receptor blocker) to an ACE inhibitor regimen causes marked diuresis and symptomatic improvement. The Randomized Aldactone Evaluation Study (RALES) was organized to explore the role of combination therapy with spironolactone in patients with heart failure. Patients with New York Heart Association Functional Class II-IV heart failure and left ventricular ejection fractions < or = 40% who were on regimens comprising an ACE inhibitor, loop diuretic, and, possibly, digoxin were randomized to receive placebo or spironolactone in doses of 12.5, 25, 50, or 75 mg per day. Eve at the lowest dose of spironolactone, a significant decrease in plasma N-terminal pro-atrial natriuretic peptide occurred, with concomitant increase in concentrations of plasma renin and urinary aldosterone. As prophylaxis for heart failure, a daily dose of 25 mg of spironolactone and monitoring of serum potassium concentrations are recommended; symptomatic therapy in refractory or severe heart failure may require doses as high as 100 mg b.i.d. The RALES Mortality Trial will follow up 1400 similar patients for 3 years to determine the effect of the addition of spironolactone on combined mortality and hospitalization for heart failure.
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PMID:ACE inhibitor co-therapy in patients with heart failure: rationale for the Randomized Aldactone Evaluation Study (RALES). 868 55

In untreated congestive heart failure, aldosterone plasma concentrations are elevated in proportion to the severity of the disease and are further increased by the use of diuretic treatment. Angiotensin II, plasma potassium concentration, and corticotropin are the major stimulators of aldosterone synthesis. During angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition, the role of alternative major or minor regulatory mechanisms may become significant. This may explain why during continuous ACE inhibition, after an initial reduction, plasma aldosterone measurements may subsequently increase to pretherapeutic levels. In addition to causing sodium and water retention, aldosterone contributes to hypokalaemia and hypomagnesaemia, which may induce electrical instability and death of cardiac myocytes. Aldosterone is also one factor involved in cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, which, together with myocardial cell death, may underlie progressive adverse myocardial remodelling. Evidence for a direct vascular effect of aldosterone suggests that this hormone may contribute to generalized vasoconstriction. Elevated plasma aldosterone levels can also contribute to depression of baroreflex sensitivity, and they are associated with increased mortality in patients with severe heart failure. Experimental and clinical research should be further expanded to investigate the potential benefits of opposing the effects of aldosterone by use of specific antagonists or other potentially more potent pharmacological agents with favourable side-effect profiles.
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PMID:Aldosterone and heart failure. 868 70


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