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The effects of ethanol on blood flow in the coronary arteries, the major blood vessels supplying the heart, and the dimensions of the coronary arteries were examined in 29 patients with coronary artery disease and six normal subjects. Blood flow was measured in the coronary sinus, a large vein that drains coronary arteries, before and during a 15- to 30-minute infusion of dextrose, or sugar, into the hearts of 15 subjects and an infusion of 5 percent ethanol in dextrose solution in 20 subjects. In subjects receiving dextrose, heart rate, arterial pressure, and coronary sinus blood flow were unchanged. In subjects receiving ethanol, coronary sinus flow increased about 27 percent, and resistance in the coronary blood vessels to flow decreased 17 percent. In the ethanol group, there were also changes in the oxygen content in the coronary artery sinus and artery, but no changes in the coronary artery dimensions. The results show that ethanol increases coronary blood flow and decreases resistance without causing any changes in dimensions, suggesting that the effects of ethanol result from dilation of the small blood vessels called arterioles, which cause resistance to flow. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Objectives: An epoxy resin worker developed hypersensitivity pneumonitis requiring lung transplantation and had an abnormal blood lymphocyte proliferation test (LPT) to an epoxy hardener. We assessed the prevalence of symptoms, abnormal spirometry, and abnormal epoxy resin LPT results in epoxy resin workers compared to unexposed workers. Methods: Participants completed questionnaires and underwent spirometry. We collected blood for epoxy resin LPT and calculated stimulation indices for five epoxy resin products. Results: We compared 38 exposed to 32 unexposed workers. Higher exposed workers were more likely to report cough (OR 10.86, [1.23-infinity], p = 0.030) or wheeze (OR 4.44, [1.00-22.25], p = 0.049) than unexposed workers, even controlling for smoking. Higher exposed workers were more likely to have abnormal FEV1 than unexposed workers (OR 10.51, [0.86-589.9], p = 0.071), although not statistically significant when adjusted for smoking. There were no differences in proportion of abnormal epoxy resin system LPTs between exposed and unexposed workers. Conclusions: In summary, workers exposed to epoxy resin system chemicals were more likely to report respiratory symptoms and have abnormal FEV1 than unexposed workers. Use of epoxy resin LPT was not helpful as a biomarker of exposure and sensitization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]