Clinical Research Sympathetic Activation and Vasoregulation in Response to Carbohydrate Ingestion in Patients With Congestive Heart Failure

Background: In normal individuals, carbohydrate ingestion increases sympathetic vasoconstrictor activity but causes net vasodilatation in the same vascular bed. This study quantified the effects of carbohydrate ingestion on muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and vasoregulation in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). We hypothesized that high resting levels of MSNA in patients with CHF would blunt further increases in MSNA following carbohydrate ingestion and that their sympathetic activation would restrain vasodilatation.