Effects of chemical sympathectomy with 6-hydroxydopamine on cardiac output and its distribution in the rat

Cardiac output and its regional distribution were determined with radioactive microspheres in pentobarbitone anesthetised rats 16 h and 5 days after sympathectomy with 6-hydroxydopamine (150 mg/kg i.p. over 24 h). Distribution was not different at either time in sympathectomised animals compare controls given i.p. saline/ascorbic acid. Cardiac output was 12% greater 16 h after sympathectomy than in the controls but heart rate and blood pressure were 20% lower. Stroke volume was 43% greater in animals given 6-hydroxydopamine and total peripheral resistance 29% lower than in sham-sympathectomised rats. Five days after sympathectomy, blood pressure and heart rate were still lower in sympathectomised rats, but cardiac output and total peripheral resistance were not significantly different from control. It is concluded that basal sympathetic tone does not determine the distribution of cardiac output at rest and that its primary effect on the heart is to maintain heart rate rather than contractility.