Carvedilol increases blood pressure response to phenylephrine infusion in heart failure subjects with systolic dysfunction: Evidence of improved vascular α1-adrenoreceptor signal transduction

Increasing BP response to PE infusion suggests improvement in vascular α1-AR signal transduction with chronic carvedilol therapy. This effect is evident despite no detectable tolerance to preinfusion BP reductions. The varying affinities of α1-AR subtypes for carvedilol and PE may have contributed to this finding.