The control of hypertension with dibutyryl cyclic AMP.

The effects of the rapid infusion of large doses of dibutyryl cyclic AMP (DBcAMP) were studied to clarify the clinical usefulness of its vasodilating action in 32 middle-aged patients, who underwent various types of surgery and developed systolic hypertension of over 160 mmHg during general anaesthesia. DBcAMP was given i.v. with an infusion pump at a rate of 0.6 mg kg-1 min-1 for 20 min. In all patients just after the infusion, systolic arterial pressure decreased from 174.0 +/- 20.7 to 129.0 +/- 23.9 mmHg, diastolic pressure decreased from 93.1 +/- 13.4 to 64.8 +/- 13.3 mmHg, heart rate increased from 81.2 +/- 15.7 to 91.5 +/- 19.5 beats min-1, and urine volume increased from 69.4 +/- 54.8 to 182.7 +/- 143.5 ml h-1. In three patients, cardiac index increased from 3.44 to 4.24 l min-1 m-2. In seven patients, tachycardia exceeding 120 beats min-1 developed. DBcAMP was also effective in patients with a history of hypertension. The strongest antihypertensive effect was observed in patients anaesthetized with nitrous oxide-oxygen and enflurane. We speculate that DBcAMP is useful to control hypertension and may be particularly indicated in patients with cardiac failure, renal disorders and essential hypertension.