earticle

영어

Purpose: Norepinephrine (NE) is a neurotransmitter of the sympathetic nervous system. It is used for treating hypotension on distributive shock, central nervous system injury, or sepsis. There are several reports that state that alcohol suppresses vasoconstriction by NE. Thus, our hypothesis is that the effect of NE is reduced in alcohol-drinking patients with distributive shock. We investigated whether alcohol suppresses NE-induced contraction and aimed at finding a solution to this problem. Methods: For this study, we used the aorta from male Sprague-Dawley rats (9-11 weeks) and an isometric contraction system. Results: Our results showed that alcohol suppresses NE contraction and does not affect epinephrine induced a contraction. Moreover, in the presence of alcohol, a 7:3 mixture of NE and epinephrine induced a contractile force similar to that induced by NE under normal conditions. Conclusion: We found that the vasoconstrictive force of NE decreased in the blood vessels in which alcohol was present, which was not because endothelial cells. The reduced contractile force was most similar to that induced by a 7:3 mixture of NE and epinephrine.