Cardiovascular responsiveness after isotonic exercise in cirrhotic patients: study on sympathoadrenergic and renin-angiotensin systems

The aim of this study was to evaluate cardiovascular responsiveness after isotonic exercise in cirrhotic patients.Included were 11 cirrhotic patients and 10 age-matched normal subjects, who served as controls. Hemodynamic data were obtained on each subject before and after muscle exercise on a treadmill (7 metabolic units). Plasma noradrenaline concentration and plasma renin activity also were determined.In both groups, isotonic exercise increased heart rate and systolic arterial pressure, whereas diastolic arterial pressure was not modified. The increase in heart rate and systolic arterial pressure did not differ significantly between the two groups. Plasma noradrenaline concentration and plasma renin activity also were increased. The changes in plasma noradrenaline concentration and plasma renin activity was higher in cirrhotic patients than in controls (p0.05, p0.05), although the differences were not significant when calculated as a percentage.Cardiovascular responsiveness to isotonic exercise is almost intact in cirrhotic patients. However, supernormal activation of the sympathoadrenergic and renin-angiotensin systems is required to maintain cardiovascular homeostasis in these patients.