Effect of Digitalis on Diminished Baroreceptor Sensitivity in Diabetics

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Abstract
The baroreceptor sensitivity was estimated in 50 normal controls and in 50 diabetics of comparable age. The technique used was infusion of angiotensin (0.5 .mu.g/min) and measurement of the bradycardic response due to the increase of blood pressure. The slope was used as an index of baroreceptor sensitivity. Diabetics had significantly lower baroreceptor sensitivity and a higher resting heart rate. Sensitivity decreased with age in both groups. The reproducibility of the method was excellent. Deslanoside-C (0.8 mg) significantly increased the baroreceptor sensitivity in 11 normal controls and 9 diabetics. Very low sensitivity was found in 26 diabetics who had no evidence of orthostatic hypotension, neuropathy or retinopathy. All 17 patients had very low sensitivity.