Nitroglycerin cardiovascular effects

Although sudden deaths due to circulatory failure have been reported among workers exposed chronically to nitrated esters such as nitroglycerin and ethylene glycol dinitrate (Carmichael and Lieben 1963), no deaths attributable to cardiovascular effects were reported for U.S. Navy personnel involved in torpedo maintenance work (Horvath et al. 1981 Forman et al. 1987). The sudden deaths for workers in the explosives industry were attributed to a compensatory vasospasm that may produce coronary insufficiency upon withdrawal from nitrate ester exposure. 

Many NO donors, including nitroglycerin, which must be metabolized to release NO (15), are systemic hypotensive agents due to activation of soluble guanylyl cyclase. In vivo studies focusing on the cardiovascular effects of Angeli s... 

Sakai K, Shiraki Y, Nabata H. Cardiovascular effects of a new coronary vasodilator N-(2-hydroxyethyl)nicotinamide nitrate (SG-75) comparison with nitroglycerin and diltia-zem. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 1981 3(l) 139-50. 

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