Adrenaline infusions (AI) (0.5 μg adrenaline per 10 kg body weight per minute over 120 minutes) were given weekly for three weeks to 20 healthy male volunteers aged twenty-one to thirty-eight years. The AI was given after three days' treatment with diltiazem (D), verapamil (V), or placebo (Pl) in a single-blind fashion. After pretreatment with PI, serum potassium (s-K) decreased from 3.93 ± 0.30 mmol/L (M ± SD) to 3.33 ± 0.31 (P < 0.001) with the greatest change 69.75 ± 46.24 minutes after the start of the AI. Corresponding values for s-Mg were 0.84 ± 0.06 to 0.78 ± 0.05 (P < 0.01) and 106.50 ± 36.71 minutes, for s-Ca 2.40 ± 0.07 to 2.30 ± 0.08 (P < 0.01) and 103.50 ± 36.06 minutes, for s-P 1.05 ± 0.17 to 0.91 ± 0.17 (P < 0.02) and 80.25 ± 47.25 minutes, and for s-urate 344.79 ± 50.55 to 329.26 ± 47.80 (P > 0.05) and 63.95 ± 46.05 minutes. After pretreatment with D, AI produced similar electrolyte changes as after PI, but the rise in blood glucose was slightly more pronounced and the drop in s-urate less pronounced. The heart rate (HR) before AI after pretreatment with D was lower than after PI, but the increase during the AI was of the same magnitude. The AI-induced changes in systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure after D did not differ significantly from those seen after PI, and neither did QT and QTc, whereas the PR duration was prolonged (0.18 ± 0.03 second) when compared with PI (0.16 ± 0.02) (P < 0.05). Although the magnitude of the change in DBP was not influenced, V prolonged the time till the lowest DBP (48.95 ± 26.38 minutes) when compared with PI (31.50 ± 29.16 minutes) (P > 0.05). The other variables followed the same pattern as for D.
In conclusion AI in healthy volunteers produced a drop in s-K but in addition a drop in s-Mg and s-Ca, the latter appearing later than the drop in s-K. Pretreatment with diltiazem and verapamil did not influence the magnitude of these changes but reduced the drop in s-urate.
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