The Effect of Posture on Hypertension Induced by Sympathomimetic Amines in Man

After atropine the hypertension induced by Arterenol in man is abolished by tilting to the vertical position. This does not occur with equipressor doses of Arterenol or with atropine alone. Arterenol and atropine in combination could not be shown to have a blocking action at sympathetic ganglions in animal experiments, nor was there blockade of the carotid sinus reflex pathways. The failure to maintain Arterenol-induced hypertension after atropine was thus unexplained. Further experiments on the clinical implications of this phenomenon were performed.