1. Introduction
Angina is one of the common clinical diseases. It is caused by
insufficient oxygen supply to the myocardium due to coronary artery
stenosis caused by coronary sclerosis or coronary artery spasm.
Therefore, reducing myocardial oxygen consumption and increases coronary
blood flow and then restores the balance between supply and demand of
ischemic myocardial oxygen, at the same time, the prevention and
treatment of atherosclerosis also are the fundamentals of angina
treatment. Nicorandil is a well-known antianginal agent, which has been
recommended as one of the second-line treatments for chronic stable
angina as justified by the European guidelines1. It
shows an efficacy equivalent to that of classic antianginal agents.
Nicorandil has also been applied clinically in various cardiovascular
diseases such as variant or unstable angina and reperfusion-induced
damage following coronary angioplasty or
thrombolysis2,3. The mechanisms have been involved in
the protective effects of Nicorandil in angina through either opening of
adenosine triphosphate-sensitive potassium (K-ATP) channel or donation
of nitric oxide (NO)4,5.
Coronary heart disease patients are usually accompanied by hypertension.
When experiencing angina pectoris, the patients often had an increase in
blood pressure. Clinically, when this happened, intravenous isosorbide
mononitrate and nitroglycerin are used to prevent angina, and the same
time to control blood pressure. We all know that isosorbide mononitrate
and nitroglycerin have anti-angina pectoris and affect blood pressure
related to its release of nitric oxide factor5.
Similarly,Nicorandil administration also increases the level of NO
through reaction of its nitrate group with sulfhydryl group in cells of
vascular smooth muscle4. Therefore, we speculate that
Intravenous Nicorandil may also affect blood pressure. The effect of
Intravenous Nicorandil on angina is well established,but few reports
demonstrated that Nicorandil may cause severe vasodilation and fall in
blood pressure, the impact of Intravenous
Nicorandil
on blood pressure has not been investigated till now.
Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate the effects of
Intravenous
Nicorandil
on blood pressure and drug safety in patients with coronary heart
disease.