Nicotine enhances the circulatory effects of adenosine in human beings

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Abstract
A randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled study was performed in 10 healthy volunteers to evaluate a possible interaction between adenosine and nicotine in human beings. The infusion of adenosine alone (0.07 mg/kg/min) induced an increase in heart rate of 4.7 beats/min versus 0.2 beats/min after placebo administration (p < 0.02). The infusion of adenosine alone induced a decrease in finger skin temperature compared with placebo administration (-1.0.degree. versus 0.0.degree. C, p < 0.01). When compared with baseline values, nicotine gum chewing increased systolic and diastolic blood pressures by 6.2 and 7.0 mm Hg, respectively (p < 0.001), heart rate by 5.5 beats/min (p < 0.01), and plasma adrenaline levels by 0.03 nmol/L (p < 0.025), whereas skin temperatures fell by 1.3.degree.C (p < 0.001). The nicotine- induced increase in heart rate was larger during adenosine infusion than during placebo administration (14.9 versus 5.5 beats/min, p < 0.001), whereas the increment of diastolic blood pressure was lower (1.1 versus 4.0 mm Hg, p < 0.05). The increment in systolic blood pressure was not altered by concomitant adenosine infusion. The rise in plasma noradrenaline levels during the combined administration of nicotine and adenosine differed significantly from the response to nicotine alone (+ 0.23 versus -0.05 nmol/L, p < 0.02). We conclude that, in human being, the characteristic hemodynamic response to adenosine infusion in enhanced by nicotine.