The importance of the alpha-adrenoceptor agonist activity of dobutamine to inotropic selectivity in the anaesthetized cat

Effects of increasing infusion rates of dopamine, dobutamine, epinephrine, and phenylephrine in healthy anesthetized cats

OBJECTIVE

To determine the cardiopulmonary effects of increasing doses of dopamine, dobutamine, epinephrine, and phenylephrine and measure plasma concentrations of norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine in cats anesthetized with isoflurane.

ANIMALS

6 healthy adult cats.

PROCEDURES

Each cat was anesthetized with isoflurane (1.5 X minimum alveolar concentration) on 4 occasions. Cardiopulmonary measurements were obtained after a 30-minute stabilization period; 20 minutes after the start of each infusion dose; and 30, 60, and 90 minutes after the infusion was discontinued. Cats received 5 progressively increasing infusions of epinephrine or phenylephrine (0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 microg/kg/min) or dobutamine or dopamine (2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 microg/kg/min). The order of treatment was randomly allocated. Results-All 4 treatments increased oxygen delivery. Heart rate (HR) increased during administration of all drugs except phenylephrine, and mean arterial pressure increased during administration of all drugs except dobutamine. A progressive metabolic acidosis was detected, but whole-blood lactate concentration only increased during administration of epinephrine and dobutamine. Systemic vascular resistance index increased during administration of phenylephrine, decreased during administration of dobutamine, and remained unchanged during administration of dopamine and epinephrine. A positive inotropic effect was detected with all treatments.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

During anesthesia in cats, administration of dopamine, dobutamine, and epinephrine may be useful for increasing cardiac output, with dopamine having the most useful effects. Administration of phenylephrine increased cardiac and systemic vascular resistance indexes with minimal effect on HR and may be useful for increasing mean arterial pressure without increasing HR.

A novel catecholamine, arbutamine, for a pharmacological cardiac stress agent

Arbutamine, developed for use as a cardiac stress agent, was compared with isoproterenol and dobutamine in anesthetized dogs for cardiovascular actions prior to and after beta-adrenergic blockade with propranolol. The efficacy and safety of arbutamine were also evaluated in a canine model of myocardial ischemia obtained by partially occluding the left anterior descending coronary artery. Comparison of hemodynamic variables in normal dogs showed that arbutamine was approximately equipotent to isoproterenol in increasing heart rate and cardiac contractility, and in decreasing total peripheral vascular resistance and mean arterial blood pressure. Arbutamine was 210 times more potent than dobutamine in increasing cardiac contractility by 70%; however, at this dose dobutamine exhibited a negative chronotropic response. Beta-adrenergic blockade with propranolol shifted the agonist's dose-response curves for heart rate and contractility to the right; however, low doses of dobutamine exhibited a negative chronotropic effect and increased the total peripheral vascular resistance. In dogs subjected to partial left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion, arbutamine produced significant ST-segment deflections, beginning at a dose of 0.1 nmol/kg/min. Impairment of segment shortening, reflecting cardiac wall motion abnormality, was evident at a dose of 0.3 nmol/kg/min. Isoproterenol did not cause significant changes in these parameters. These results show that arbutamine is capable of producing graded increments in cardiac contractility and rate before and after beta-adrenergic blockage in normal dogs. In dogs subjected to coronary artery occlusion, it is capable of provoking myocardial ischemia at dose levels devoid of toxicity.

Chronotropic and inotropic responses to adrenoceptor agonists in vitro after chronic dobutamine treatment in the rabbit

1. Effects of long-term administration of the inotropic agent dobutamine (beta-and alpha 1-adrenoceptor agonist) on cardiac adrenoceptor function were studied in the rabbit. 2. After 2 weeks' continuous i.v. infusion of dobutamine (Dobutrex, 20 micrograms kg-1 min-1), spontaneous atrial rates in vitro were similar to controls, as were maximal rates in response to isoprenaline (262 +/- 17 vs 268 +/- 21 b.p.m., P greater than 0.05) but the chronotropic potency of isoprenaline was reduced, as shown by a nine-fold increase in EC50. 3. Basal developed tension of papillary muscles was greater after chronic dobutamine treatment and increases in contraction force in response to beta-activation by isoprenaline and noradrenaline were significantly higher. Maximal developed tensions were 93 +/- 14% (P less than 0.02) and 94 +/- 25% (P less than 0.05) respectively greater than those of control muscles. 4. The inotropic potency of isoprenaline, but not noradrenaline, was reduced significantly after chronic dobutamine with a two-fold increase in EC50. 5. Responses to alpha 1-adrenoceptor activation by phenylephrine were unchanged after dobutamine treatment. 6. These changes are consistent with functional desensitization of the myocardium by the prolonged beta- but not alpha 1-agonist activity of dobutamine. In contrast, there was an enhanced effectiveness of beta-adrenoceptor activation.

Myocardial effects of adrenaline, isoprenaline and dobutamine at hypothermic conditions

The pharmacodynamic myocardial effects of adrenaline, isoprenaline and dobutamine were studied in isolated, perfused and spontaneously beating rabbit hearts at hypothermic conditions. Cardiac contraction amplitude increased from the control value at 37 degrees set equal to 100% to about 165% at 22 degrees, whereas contraction velocity decreased to 52%, frequency to 30% and oxygen consumption to about 19%. At 22 degrees all drugs produced pronounced positive inotropic and chronotropic effects. Em-values related to contraction velocity, frequency and oxygen consumption were for isoprenaline 152, 98 and 136%, respectively, for adrenaline 127, 100 and 198% and for dobutamine 120, 86 and 165%, respectively. The corresponding EC50-values decreased and a marked left-shift of the log-concentration response curves was observed as an expression of increased myocardial sensitivity to the drugs. Em for contraction velocity for dobutamine was distinctly reduced at 32 and 27 degrees and for adrenaline at 27 degrees in comparison to the increase seen at 22 and 37 degrees. Em for oxygen consumption showed for all drugs an increase at decreasing temperatures. The frequency-corrected QTc-interval decreased slightly to moderately during exposure to the drugs at hypothermic conditions. None of the drugs caused arrhythmias during the experiments. Coronary flow rate decreased only moderately at the higher drug concentrations at decreased temperatures. Dobutamine and adrenaline at 37 degrees and isoprenaline at 37 and 22 degrees caused an increase of Em for oxygen consumption that was slightly less than proportional to the increase of Em for contraction velocity.

Dobutamine: positive inotropy by nonselective adrenoceptor agonism in isolated guinea pig and human myocardium

Positive inotropic responses to dobutamine have been examined using isolated myocardium from guinea pigs und humans. The potency (EC50) of dobutamine was 1.5 X 10(-6) mol/l on guinea pig papillary muscles, 1.8 X 10(-6) mol/l on guinea pig left atria and 2.5 X 10(-6) mol/l on human papillary muscle strips. In guinea pig cardiac muscles, Schild plots for the beta 1-selective antagonist, 1-practolol, using dobutamine as agonist, had slopes of less than unity. This suggested the involvement of other receptors in the inotropic response to dobutamine. The beta 2-selective antagonist, ICI 118,551, but not the alpha 1-selective antagonist, prazosin, attenuated the dobutamine response in guinea pig papillary muscles. Both ICI 118,551 and prazosin shifted the dobutamine concentration-response curve in guinea pig left atria. The positive inotropic response to dobutamine in human papillary muscles was antagonised by l-practolol and ICI 118,551 but not by prazosin. The maximal inotropic response to dobutamine was 90% that of calcium measured in the same guinea pig papillary muscles but only 37% that of calcium in human papillary muscle strips. This reduced maximal effect of dobutamine in human myocardium is probably a disease-induced change but species variations cannot be excluded.

Myocardial pharmacodynamics of dopamine, dobutamine, amrinone and isoprenaline compared in the isolated rabbit heart

The isolated spontaneously beating rabbit heart was used for comparing the myocardial effects of isoprenaline, dobutamine, dopamine and amrinone. Both isoprenaline and dobutamine produced a progressive concentration-dependent increase in contractility from 100% to a maximum of about 200% (pD2 7.81 and 7.01, respectively) as measured by the increase in isotonic contraction rate. The simultaneous augmentations in contraction amplitude reached maxima of about 127 and 143% (pD2 7.83 and 7.05) for each of the drugs and the heart frequency rose to 202 and 162% (pD2 7.80 and 6.63), respectively. The accompanying oxygen consumption increased from 100 to 194% (pD2 7.70) for isoprenaline and to only 177% (pD2 6.36) for dobutamine. Coronary flow rate rose to 153 and 134%, respectively. Dopamine increased the contraction rate to 181% (pD2 6.26), contraction amplitude to about 122% (pD2 6.25) and heart rate to 162% (pD2, 5.85), while oxygen consumption rose to a maximum of 202% (pD2 5.69). Coronary flow rate rose to 156%. In contrast amrinone produced an unexpected slowly progressing decrease in contraction rate and contraction amplitude to about 66% (pD2 4.45 and 4.01, respectively). Oxygen consumption increased to 159% (pD2 4.10) and coronary flow rate to 210%. The positive inotropic effect of dobutamine thus equalled that of isoprenaline but with a distinct lower concomitant increase in heart frequency and oxygen consumption which may reflect a better myocardial efficiency during the action of dobutamine.