Effects of catecholamines and potassium on cardiovascular performance in the rabbit

Resting subjects risk cardiac arrest if plasma potassium ([K+]p) is raised rapidly to 7-9 mM, but brief bouts of exhaustive exercise in healthy subjects can give similar [K+]p without causing cardiac problems. We investigated the effects of [K+]p and catecholamines on systolic blood pressure (SBP) and mean aortic flow (MAF) in anesthetized rabbits and on maximum output pressure (MOP) in isolated working rabbit hearts. In six rabbits, …