Subject characteristics
| Control subjects | Patients with heart failure | |
|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) age (years) | 61 (4) | 64 (2) |
| Sex (M/F) | 6/3 | 6/3 |
| Aetiology ischaemic heart disease | – | 9 |
| NYHA grade II/III/IV | – | 5/3/1 |
| Left ventricular ejection fraction (%) | – | 30 (2) |
| Echocardiography | ||
| LVEDD (cm) | – | 7.2 (0.5) |
| SF (%) | – | 16 (2) |
| Concomitant treatment | ||
| ACE inhibitor | – | 9 |
| Diuretic | – | 9 |
| Aspirin | – | 9 |
| Nitrates | – | 5 |
| β Blocker | – | 3 |
| Calcium antagonist | – | 3 |
| Digoxin | – | 2 |
| Amiodarone | – | 1 |
| Blood pressure (mm Hg) | ||
| Systolic | 132 (5) | 132 (9) |
| Diastolic | 82 (5) | 81 (6) |
| Heart rate (beats/min) | 66 (3) | 64 (2) |
| Baseline blood flow (ml/100 ml/min) | ||
| Infused | 4.2 (0.7) | 2.8 (0.3)1-150 |
| Non-infused | 3.7 (0.6) | 2.6 (0.2)1-150 |
| Plasma endothelin-1 (fmol/ml) | 1.9 (0.3) | 3.0 (0.1)† |
| Plasma big endothelin-1 (fmol/ml) | 7.9 (2.0) | 19.6 (3.5)‡ |
| Plasma angiotensin II (fmol/ml) | ||
| Basal | 3.3 (0.3) | 13.3 (9.6)§ |
| After losartan | 3.3 (0.4) | 9.1 (3.9)§ |
| Plasma noradrenaline (pmol /ml) | 1.6 (0.5) | 1.3 (0.1) |
| Plasma adrenaline (pmol/ml) | 0.3 (0.1) | 1.3 (0.6)¶ |
↵1-150 p = 0.11; †p = 0.005; ‡p = 0.01; §p = 0.08; ¶p = 0.16.
ACE, angiotensin converting enzyme; LVEDD, left ventricular end diastolic dimension; NYHA, New York Heart Association; SF, shortening fraction.