Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T21:43:40.151Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Propranolol in Experimentally Induced Stress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Elizabeth A. Taylor ,
Paul Turner  and
Jean Harrison
Elizabeth A. Taylor
Affiliation:
St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, London, EC1A 7BE
Paul Turner
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, London, EC1A 7BE
Jean Harrison
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, London, EC1A 7BE
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The influence of beta-adrenoceptor antagonism on the effects of a simple experimental stress was investigated in 12 healthy volunteers, using a double-blind protocol. A single oral dose of 80 mg propranolol reduced the stress-induced increase in heart rate and systolic blood pressure to 49.9 per cent and 8.3 per cent respectively compared to 61.0 per cent and 17.4 per cent with placebo. The rise in diastolic blood pressure was small and unaffected by beta-adrenoceptor blockade. The rise in temperature of the skin of the trunk was significantly reduced by propranolol. The self-rating of anxiety, alertness and concentration by the subjects was unaffected by propranolol.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 139 , Issue 6 , December 1981 , pp. 545 - 549
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1981 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alam, M. & Smirk, F. H. (1937) Observations in man upon a blood pressure raising reflex arising from the voluntary muscles. Journal of Physiology, 89, 372–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brantigan, T. A., Brantigan, C. O. & Joseph, N. H. (1978) Beta blockade and musical performance. Lancet, ii, 896.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, C. (1972) Beneficial effect of beta-adrenergic blockade on ‘exam nerves’. Lancet, ii, 435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conway, M. (1971) Final examinations. Practitioner, 206, 795—800.Google ScholarPubMed
Donald, K. W., Lind, A. R., McNicol, G. W., Humphreys, P. W., Taylor, S. H. & Staunton, H. P. (1967) Cardiovascular responses to sustained (static) contractions. Circulation Research (Suppl 1), 20/21, 15—32.Google Scholar
Farhoumand, N., Harrison, J., Pare, C. M. B., Turner, P. & Wynn, S. (1979) The effect of high dose oxprenolol on stress induced physical and psycho-physiological variables. Psychopharmacologia (Berlin), 64, 365–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Filinger, E. J., Langer, S. Z., Perec, C. J. & Stefano, F. J. E. (1978) Evidence for the presynaptic location of the alpha-adrenoceptors which regulate noradrenaline release in the rat submaxillary gland. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Archives of Pharmacology, 304, 21–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freyschuss, U. (1970) Cardiovascular adjustment to somatomotor activation: the elicitation of increments in heart rate, aortic pressure, and venomotor tone with the initiation of muscle contraction. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica (Suppl), 342, 1—63.Google ScholarPubMed
Harrison, J. (1964) The behaviour of the palmar sweat glands in stress. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 8, 187–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, I. M., Pearson, R. M., Griffith, D. N. W. & Newbury, P. (1977) Effect of oxprenolol on stage-fright in musicians. Lancet, ii, 952–4.Google Scholar
Koch-Weser, J. (1972) Serum drug concentrations as therapeutic guides. New England Journal of Medicine, 287, 227–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lader, M. H. & Tyrer, P. J. (1972) Central and peripheral effects of propranolol and sotalol in normal human subjects. British Journal of Pharmacology, 45, 557–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lind, A. R., Taylor, S. H., Humphreys, P. W., Kennelly, B. M. & Donald, K. W. (1964) The circulatory effects of sustained voluntary muscle contraction. Clinical Science, 27, 229–44.Google ScholarPubMed
Liu, K. S., Debus, G. & Janke, W. (1978) Studies on the effect of oxprenolol on experimentally induced anxiety. Arzneimittel Forschung (Drug Research), 28, 1305–6.Google ScholarPubMed
Lorentsen, E. (1975) The venomotor response to static muscular exercise. Journal of Clinical Laboratory Investigation, 35, 789–94.Google ScholarPubMed
MacDonald, H. R., Sapru, R. P., Taylor, S. H. & Donald, K. W. (1966) Effect of intravenous propranolol on the systemic circulatory response to sustained handgrip. American Journal of Cardiology, 18, 333–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McAllister, R. G. (1979) Effect of adrenergic receptor blockade on the response to isometric handgrip: studies in normal and hypertensive subjects. Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, 1, 253–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, C. E., Shaver, J. A., Leon, D. F., Thompson, M. E. & Reddy, P. S. (1974) Autonomic mechanisms in hemodynamic responses to isometric exercise. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 54, 104–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nakano, S., Gillespie, H. K. & Hollister, L. E. (1978) Propranolol in experimentally induced stress. Psychopharmacology (Berlin), 59, 279–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nyberg, G., Graham, R. M. & Stokes, G. S. (1977) The effect of mental arithmetic in normotensive and hypertensive subjects, and its modification by β-adrenergic receptor blockade. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 4, 469–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ogle, C. W. & Turner, P. (1974) The effects of oral doses of oxprenolol and of propranolol on CNS function in man. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 1, 256–61.Google Scholar
Ogle, C. W. & Turner, P. & Markomihelakis, H. (1976) The effects of high doses of oxprenolol and of propranolol on pursuit rotor performance, reaction time and critical flicker frequency. Psychopharmacology (Berlin), 46, 295–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shand, D. G., Nuckolis, E. M. & Oates, J. A. (1970) Plasma propranolol levels in adults with observations in four children. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 11, 112–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Somerville, W., Taggart, P. & Carruthers, M. (1973) Cardiovascular responses in public speaking and their modification by oxprenolol. In New Perspectives in Beta-Blockade (eds. Burley, D. M., Frier, J. H., Rondel, R. K. and Taylor, S. H.). Horsham: Ciba.Google Scholar
Turner, P. (1979) Central nervous actions of beta-adrenoceptor blocking drugs in man. Trends in Pharmacological Science, 1, 49—51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, P. & Hedges, A. (1973) An investigation of the central effects of oxprenolol. In New Perspectives. In Beta-Blockade (eds. Burley, D. M., Frier, J. H., Rondel, R. K. and Taylor, S. H.). Horsham: Ciba.Google Scholar
Tyrer, P. (1976) The Role of Bodily Feelings in Anxiety. University Press.Google Scholar
Wildenthal, K., Miezwiak, D. S., Skinner, N. S. & Mitchell, J. H. (1968) Potassium-induced cardiovascular and ventilatory reflexes from the dog hind limb. American Journal of Physiology, 215, 542–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.