Cardiovascular and adrenergic effects of cigarette smoking during immediate non-selective and selective beta...

The cardiovascular and adrenergic responses to cigarette smoking during acute selective and non-selective beta adrenoceptor blockade were studied in seven young healthy volunteers in a double blind cross-over fashion. Heart rate, arterial blood pressure, forearm blood flow and plasma levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline were determined before and during the terminal 5 min period of 15 min smoking test. During smoking, plasma concentrations of adrenaline increased markedly and evenly by approximately 0.3 ng/ml in all three experimental sessions. Plasma concentrations of noradrenaline remained unchanged. Propranolol, a non-selective beta blocker, caused a marked rise in diastolic and mean blood pressure and forearm vascular resistance during smoking. This response was not seen in the control series or after selective beta-1 blockage with atenolol. This difference is attributable to propranolol's blockade of adrenaline's vasodilating effect mediated by beta-2 receptors in the resistance vessels. Furthermore, atenolol attenuated the systolic blood pressure and tachycardiac responses induced by cigarette smoking by comparison with placebo. This study suggests that selective beta-1 blockers are preferable in the management of patients who are habitual smokers.