Abstract
The activity of dopamine‐β‐hydroxylase (DβH) in the serum was measured in patients with quadriplegia and in healthy subjects. We assume that the plasma DβH levels reflect sympathetic tone. Quadriplegics had significantly lower DβH levels at rest. After head‐up tilting a significant decrease in DβH levels occurred in patients with spinal cord injury suggesting failure of the sympathetic nervous system. However, a considerable overlap exists between normals and quadriplegics, making this test of limited value in the assessment of autonomic function in individual subjects.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 367-371 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 1980 |
Keywords
- autonomic failure
- blood pressure
- dopamines‐β hydroxylase
- dysantonomia
- orthostatism
- spinal cord injured patients
- sympathetic nervous system
- tilting