Exercise-induced increase in plasma concentrations of calcitonin gene-related peptide in patients with coronary heart disease and healthy controls

Calcitonin gene-related peptide is a potent regulator of vascular tone. In the present study the authors investigated plasma levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide-like immunoreactivity (CGRP-LI) during maximum bicycle exercise in 8 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and in a control group of 11 healthy volunteers. There was no significant difference in CGRP-LI baseline concentrations between patients with CHD and controls. During exercise a significant increase in CGRP-LI was observed in both groups, as compared with baseline values. Although maximum CGRP-LI values did not differ significantly between the two groups, the increase in CGRP-LI was found at a much-lower work load (p=0.0006) in patients with CHD.