Figure 2.

Changes in haemodynamic parameters. Administration of endotoxin (2 ng/kg; n = 8; closed squares) resulted in a significant increase in heart rate (HR; measured using electrocardiography; P < 0.0001), a significant decrease in mean arterial pressure (MAP; measured intra-arterially; P < 0.0001) and a significant increase in forearm blood flow (FBF; measured using venous occlusion plethysmography; P = 0.018). HR and FBF did not change significantly in the control group (open circles; n = 8), whereas MAP decreased (P = 0.035). MAP decreased significantly more in the endotoxin group than in the control group (P = 0.002). These changes demonstrate that endotoxin induces a vasodilatory state. Data are expressed as means ± standard error of the mean. The P values in the figure refer to the difference between endotoxin and control group as analyzed using analysis of variance with repeated measures over the complete curve.