The balance between vascular alpha- and beta-adrenoceptors is not changed in the elderly

It has been suggested that beta-adrenoceptor-mediated functions are diminished with aging and that these responses are reduced to a greater extent than are alpha-adrenoceptor-mediated responses. The resulting imbalance in the elderly may produce an increased vascular resistance from the unopposed alpha-adrenoceptor stimulation in the peripheral vasculature. To evaluate this hypothesis, we studied 12 healthy elderly and 12 healthy young subjects during a graded infusion of epinephrine and compared blood pressure response, vascular resistance, and calf blood flow as determined by venous occlusion plethysmography. In both groups, heart rate increased, blood flow to the leg increased, and vascular resistance fell in response to epinephrine infusion, but in the elderly the systolic blood pressure failed to rise as it did in the young subjects. From these data we conclude that the overall vascular response to epinephrine does not change with age and that the balance between beta-adrenoceptor-mediated vasodilation and alpha-adrenoceptor-mediated vasoconstriction is therefore unchanged in the elderly.