Search

A modification of an apparatus for undirect bloodless measurement of the arterial blood pressure (BP) in the tail of small laboratory animals (rats) is described. The device consists of a 3-channel ECG apparatus (C3a), connected with a blood pressure recorder(R67z/32) with an osciliscope (R17e) for visual checking of blood pressure. Criteria as well as possibility for measuring not only the systolic, but also the diastolic level of the blood pressure are indicated due to the great sensitivity of the device. It is pointed out that the coefficient of variation (3,58% for the systole and 5,95% for the diastole) is very low which confirms the reliability of the method. The results of a continuous (12 months) dynamic follow-up of the systolic and diastolic blood pressure of normotensive (NWR) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) are also reported. The authors conclude that the results could be used as normatyves and as indices for the range of the systolic and diastolic blood pressure of NWR and SHR aged 1 to 12 months, since no data about the diastolic blood pressure of rats are available so far in the literature.

With the method of isotope dilution the circadian cortisol secretion was determined in 22 patients with hypertonic disease--28.35 mg/24 h, elevated versus CSR in healthy subjects-16.63 mg/24 h. CSR is elevated also in 5 patients with bilateral adenocortical hyperplasia and with suprarenal cancer. The patients with diencephalic syndrome, progressing according to the type of Cushing disease have elevated absolute values of CSR, but recalculated per square meter of body surface and per gram creatineine excreted in 24 h-CSR proved to be normal-about 12 mg/24 h.

The total non-conjugated plasma cortisol in 60 patients with hypertension disease (HD)is 17.5 mkg/ml. The free non-conjugated cortisol represents 8.45 per cent of the total - 1,5 mkg%, considerably (p less than 0.0001) higher than that in healthy subjects. Protein conjugated cortisol is 16.0 mkg%. The bounding capacity of transcortin the plasma of hypertonics is considerably decreased (p less than 0.0001) - 15.8 mkg (in healthy - 18.5 mkg) per 100 ml. ACTH level in the plasma of patients with HD is 32.0 pg/ml, considerably higher than that in healthy (25.8 pg/ml, p less than 0.0001). The elevation of the biologically active cortisol fraction in plasma of hypertonics is a function both of hypothalamo-hypopheseal stimulation and of transcortin level. That latent hypercortisolism is admitted to be manifestation of hypothalamo - hypopheseal superstimulation by increased ACTH secretion, in case of confirmed cerebro-hypothalamic disturbances in patients with hypertension disease.