General and regional circulatory effects of synthetic eledoisin in man

¹ Department of Medicine, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia

The circulatory effects of intravenous infusions of synthetic eledoisin were studied in nine normal subjects. Infusions of 0.6 µg/min of eledoisin in eight experiments on eight subjects produced a transient fall in mean arterial blood pressure, tachycardia (average 14.3 beats/min), marked increase in cardiac index (average 3.4 liters/min m²), increase in stroke volume (average 58.3 ml/beat) and fall in systemic vascular resistance (average 6 mm Hg/liter min). Blood flow to hand and forearm increased (average increase in four experiments on four subjects 7.9 and 2.9 ml/min 100 ml tissue, respectively). More marked hypotension and tachycardia and a more pronounced increase in hand and forearm blood flows were observed during infusions of 2–5 µg/min of eledoisin in four experiments on four subjects. These results indicate that eledoisin is a powerful dilator of vessels in skin and skeletal muscle, and quite probably of vessels in other vascular areas.

Submitted on July 1, 1963