RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Influence of naloxone on the effects of high frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in angina pectoris induced by atrial pacing.
JF British Heart Journal
JO Heart
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Cardiovascular Society
SP 36
OP 42
DO 10.1136/hrt.62.1.36
VO 62
IS 1
A1 C Mannheimer
A1 H Emanuelsson
A1 F Waagstein
A1 C Wilhelmsson
YR 1989
UL http://heart.bmj.com/content/62/1/36.abstract
AB The influence of naloxone on the effects of high frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in angina pectoris induced by atrial pacing was studied in 11 patients with severe coronary artery disease. The patients were catheterised and treated with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation on two occasions, double blind and in random order, with a single intravenous dose of saline or with a single intravenous dose of 50 mg naloxone. Treatment with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation increased tolerance to pacing and significantly improved lactate metabolism with placebo and with naloxone. The positive effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation were thus reproducible and not reversed by single intravenous doses of naloxone. The results indicate that the effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation on the heart are not mediated by beta endorphin but they do not exclude activation of more short-acting opioids such as delta or kappa receptor agonists (met-enkephalin or dynorphin or both) because naloxone has a low affinity for these receptors. Non-opioid mechanisms may also be important.