Metabolic factors and the sympathetic nervous system.

The sympathetic nervous system helps regulate both physiologic and metabolic functions. Norepinephrine usually mediates the physiologic functions, including heart rate, myocardial contractility, vasomotor tone, and blood pressure. Epinephrine produces the metabolic effects--including hyperglycemia, hyperlactacidemia, hyperlipemia, increased oxygen consumption, and serum potassium changes. Many of the metabolic effects are common to hypertension. Understanding the metabolic effects of the catecholamines could lead to understanding their role in disease states and thus to knowing the usefulness and risks of drugs that either mimic or block their action. The data presented were selected for their relevance to the metabolic abnormalities commonly encountered among hypertensive patients. The sympathetic nervous system's effects on glucose homeostasis, lipoprotein metabolism, potassium homeostasis, hyperinsulinemia, and hypertension are discussed.