Autonomic nerve activity and blood pressure in ambulatory dogs

Background The relationship between cardiac autonomic nerve activity and blood pressure (BP) changes in ambulatory dogs is unclear. Objective The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses that simultaneous termination of stellate ganglion nerve activity (SGNA) and vagal nerve activity (VNA) predisposes to spontaneous orthostatic hypotension and that specific β2 -adrenoceptor blockade prevents the hypotensive episodes. Methods We used a radiotransmitter to record SGNA, VNA, and BP in eight ambulatory dogs. Video imaging was used to document postural changes. Results Of these eight dogs, five showed simultaneous sympathovagal discharges in which the minute-by-minute integrated SGNA correlated with integrated VNA in a linear pattern (group 1). In these dogs, abrupt termination of simultaneous SGNA–VNA at the time of postural changes (as documented by video imaging) was followed by abrupt (>20 mm Hg over four beats) drops in BP. Dogs without simultaneous on/off firing (group 2) did not have drastic drops in pressure. ICI-118,551 (ICI, a specific β2 -blocker) infused at 3 µg/kg/h for 7 days significantly increased BP from 126 mm Hg (95% confidence interval 118–133) to 133 mm Hg (95% confidence interval 125–141; P = .0001). The duration of hypotension (mean systolic BP