Catecholamines and thrombocyte alpha 2-adrenoceptors in patients with acute myocardial infarction

In 28 patients with first myocardial infarction plasma catecholamines and thrombocyte alpha 2-adrenoceptors were studied. The first determination (by HPLC and radioligand binding, respectively) was performed immediately after hospital admission and 6 weeks later. In the acute phase of myocardial infarction plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline levels were high. No significant differences in thrombocyte alpha 2-adrenoceptors and plasma concentrations of adrenaline and noradrenaline were observed between diabetic and non-diabetic patients. In three non-surviving patients only the affinity of the alpha 2-adrenoceptor to the radioligand was decreased (P less than 0.05), the relatively high catecholamine levels failed to reach statistical significance. Six weeks after hospital admission, adrenaline plasma levels were significantly decreased in diabetic and non-diabetic patients, while noradrenaline was only lowered in non-diabetic patients (P less than 0.05). Only in this group did the receptor number (BMAX) show a significant elevation 6 weeks after hospital admission. We conclude that, in acute myocardial infarction, alpha 2-adrenoceptors mainly interact with noradrenaline. Accordingly, no adrenoceptor alteration occurred in diabetic patients, who showed only a decrease in adrenaline but not in noradrenaline plasma concentrations 6 weeks following myocardial infarction. The different patterns in diabetic and non-diabetic patients suggest an alteration of catecholamine metabolism in diabetes mellitus.