Catecholamines in coronary sinus and peripheral plasma during pacing-induced angina in man

We measured aortic and coronary sinus dopamine (DA), epinephrine (E), and norepinephrine (NE) in eight patients with cardiac ischemia (I) and eight control subjects (C). Samples were taken at rest (73 +/- 3 beats/min in C and 68 +/- 3 beats/min in I) and during coronary sinus pacing to peak rates (144 +/- 4 beats/min in C and 136 +/- 6 beats/min in I). Arterial NE was higher in the ischemic patients at rest (254 +/- 25 pg/ml in C and 324 +/- 21 in I; p less than 0.05). There were no differences in arterial E and DA. Neither pacing nor angina affected peripheral catecholamine concentrations. Resting myocardial NE flux was similar for both groups. With pacing, coronary sinus flow and net myocardial NE release increased significantly in both groups. The maximum relative increase in net myocardial NE release was less in the ischemic patients than in the controls (575 +/- 145% in C and 255 +/- 40% in I; p less than 0.05). Thus, angina induced by pacing does not augment peripheral sympathetic activity. Furthermore, pacing-induced angina appears to be associated with a decrease in cardiac sympathetic tone compared with that found in paced controls.