Adrenal Medulla And Hypertension Flashcards
Where are catecholamine made?
Sympathetic nervous system and the medulla
What are catecholamines involved in?
Fight and flight
What are 2 branches of the autonomic nervous system?
Parasympathetic and sympathetic
What influence does the sympathetic nervous system have?
Dilates pupils, decreases saliva, dilates lung airways, increases heart rate, decrease gut movement, increases secretion of Noradrenaline and adrenaline, decreases bladder, increasing sweating and vessel contraction, increases BP
What does the parasympathetic nervous system do?
Decreases Dilation of pupils, increases saliva, decrease dilation of lung airways, decreases heart rate, increase gut movement, increases bladder, decreases vessel contraction, decreases BP
Biochemical markers of deficiency in catecholamines?
Low BP
Bowel habit disruption, diarrhoea.
Impaired urinary continuance and sexual arousal
Less sweating
Low glucose and low hypoglycaemic awareness
Eventually cardiovascular instability
You can also get selective adrenal catecholamine loss - what is this? is it serious?
When adrenal is damaged but isn’t too serious as there is normally other places catecholamines (particularly noradrenaline) can be released
Does adrenaline have a role in maintaining glucose?
Yes
Does adrenaline maintain glucose on its own and if not what does it do it with?
No - cortisol, growth hormone and glucagon
What does a profound loss of cortisol do to adrenaline?
Decreases adrenaline
Catecholamines -what are these products and do they have alpha or beta characteristics?
Adrenaline - alpha
Noradrenaline - beta
What does adrenaline have a role in?
Excess is, raising glucose and delivering it to tissue
Where do catecholamines act on?
9 receptors - alpha and beta adrenergic receptors
What drugs can block alpha affects
Doxazosin
Phenyoxybenzamine
What drugs block beta affects?
Propranolol
What happens if you get catecholamine excess? More alpha
Vasoconstriction - high BP, pale skin
Reduced gut activity and blood flow - nausea, butterfly’s
Headaches
What happens if you get catecholamine excess? More beta?
Heart racing - palpatations
Tendency to crease glucose
Phychological arousal - on edge, anxious, fearful
Overbreathe (airways dilation)
If you have intermittent excess catecholamines what symptoms do you get?
blood pressure variable
postural drops in blood pressure on standing
get attacks of panic+palpitations
What causes increase catecholamines?
Phaeochromocytoma (paraganglioma = outside adrenal, only some make cathechoamines)
Drugs – eg antidepressants (tricyclic, MAOIs), some cold cures (ephidrine, pseudoephedrine)
Physiological – severe stress/illnes
What are concerning signs of a phaeochromocytoma?
Headache, sweating, palpitations, high blood pressure, panic attacks and fear
What do you tests to see if someone has phaeochromocytoma
Metanephrons
What are the inactive forms of adrenaline and noradrenaline?
Normetadrenaline and metadrenaline
What is the pathway of release of catecholamine and metanephrines?
Dopamine goes into vesicles which gather at the membrane and are released by nerve signal.
In the alternative pathway the vesicles break spilling adrenaline and noradrenaline back into the cytoplasm and COMT turns them into metanephrones - this is bad
How would you diagnose a phaeochromocytoma?
24 urine to screen for metanephrines,
To localise it use MRI/CT or abdomen and pelvis.
MIGB scans
Venous sampling
How do you manage a phaeochromocytoma?
- Initiate alpha blockade with phenyoxybenzamine
- Then beta blockade with propranolol
- surgery
After you remove consider if the phaeochromocytoma was part of a syndrome - what are these syndromes?
Von Hippel Lindau cerebellar - retinal, ± renal/pancreatic tumours/cysts
MENII - medullary carcinoma thyroid, hyperparathyroidism, mucosal neuromas etc
Paragangliomas - SDHB, SDHC, SDHD. Paragangliomas in neck imprinting ect.
Neurofibromatosis - skin neurofibromas, multiple pigmented patches
Hypertension - what is too high?
Over 140/90
Is BP constant?
No
When will BP alter?
Normally lower at night
can be affected with how its measured,
What tests are done to diagnose hypertension?
Should allow several readings over 5 minutes while person relaxingif seems raised should ideally average
assessments over few weeks