Study of the acute cardiovascular effects of several antihypertensive agents with the measurement of plasma catecholamines in mice

A highly sensitive determination method was established for catecholamines (norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine, and dopamine) with high-performance liquid chromatography-peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence reaction detection. In this study, the method was applied to mouse plasma, and it was determined that only 10 μl of mouse plasma was necessary for the selective and reproducible determination of catecholamines. Studies were then conducted in acute cardiovascular effects of sodium nitroprusside, nicardipine, captopril (angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor), candesartan, and olmesartan (type 1 angiotensin receptor antagonists (AT₁ antagonists)) by this method. Sodium nitroprusside and nicardipine elevated plasma NE concentrations significantly, whereas the ACE inhibitor and the AT₁ antagonists did not change plasma NE concentrations in anesthetized mice. These results suggested that angiotensin II-induced augmentation may be mainly carried through the central baroreflex pathway.