Haemodynamic and endocrine effects of type 1 angiotensin II receptor blockade in patients with hypoxaemic cor pulmonale

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Angiotensin II in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Angiotensin II (ANG II) is known to be a potent vasoconstrictor agent in the pulmonary circulation.

Furthermore, type 1 ANG II receptor blockade with losartan attenuates acute hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in normal subjects.

The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the haemodynamic and endocrine sequelae of type 1 ANG II receptor blockade in patients with hypoxaemic cor pulmonale.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as older adults, both men and women.

Haemodynamic measurements and venous blood samples were taken at baseline and after 2 and 4 h.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Angiotensin II and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Angiotensin II, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Angiotensin II, giving a reference point.

In the crossover set-up each of the participants took both Angiotensin II and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

Pulsed wave Doppler echocardiography was used to measure cardiac output (CO), mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP) and hence systemic vascular resistance (SVR) and total pulmonary vascular resistance (TPR).

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Aldosterone, Angiotensin II, Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists, Antihypertensive Agents, Biphenyl Compounds, Echocardiography, Doppler, Pulsed and Hypertension, Pulmonary.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Angiotensin II.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 4 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 1997 (Cardiovascular research), a journal based in England.

More context: the Angiotensin II compound page, all human trials.