Blood Pressure Responses to Epinephrine in the Etherized Dog, Before and After Baroreceptor Denervation

¹ From the Departments of Pharmacology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi, and University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee

Experiments were performed on dogs anesthetized with ether to determine the effects of denervation of the baroreceptors upon the blood pressure responses to graded doses of epinephrine. The results of these experiments show that the denervation procedures do not significantly affect the peak blood pressure attained or the duration of the rise in blood pressure resulting from doses of epinephrine. Denervation of the baroreceptors elevated the level of the control blood pressure and reduced the height of the pressor response significantly. At all but the 10.0 µg/kg dosage level the difference in the pressor response could be accounted for by the difference in the control blood pressure.