Effects of carvedilol on neurohormone,cardiac function and vascular endothelial function in patients with chronic heart failure

Objective:To investigate effects of carvedilol on neurohormone,cardiac function and vascular endothelial function in patients with congestive heart failure(CHF).Methods:Sixty CHF patients were randomly divided into routine therapy control group(control group,n=30)and carvedilol group(n=30).The patients in control group received the conventional treatment,including digitalis,diuretic,angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and so on.The patients in carvedilol group were treated with carvedilol in addition to conventional treatment.Before and 6 months after treatment,the plasma concentration of angiotensinⅡ and ET-1 were detected with radio immunoassay,cardiac function was examined by echocardiography and vascular endothelial function was detected with brachial artery ultrasound scanning.Results:Levels of plasma angiotensinⅡ and ET-1 significantly decreased after treatment in two groups(P0.01),and these parameters more improved in carvedilol group(P0.01).The left atrial diameter,left ventricular end-diastolic diameter and end-systolic diameter significantly decreased(P0.01),left ventricular ejection fraction significantly increased(P0.01)in two groups,and there were no significant difference between two groups(P0.05).Endothelial dysfunction in carvedilol group significantly improved(P0.01)and more than that of control group(P0.01).Conclusion:Carvedilol suppresses neurohormonal activation,reverses ventricular remodeling and improves cardiac function and endothelium function in patients with CHF.