Lyle M. Allen

Neuroendocrine response to cold in Raynaud's syndrome.

Eleven patients with Raynauds syndrome accompanied by monospecific IgG ANA, nine patients with Raynauds syndrome in the absence of ANA, and nine normal volunteers were exposed to an ambient cold challenge during which time venous blood was continuously sampled. ANA negative patients were shown to have significantly higher levels of cortisol during a cold challenge than either ANA positive patients or normal controls, and exhibited significantly lower levels of plasma norepinephrine compared with normal controls. ANA positive patients did not differ significantly from normals in their neuroendocrine response to cold. It is suggested that the high plasma cortisol found in Raynauds syndrome in the absence of ANA may be responsible for the vasospasticity in this group of patients.

The combined effect of Prazosin and autogenic training on cold reactivity in Raynaud's phenomenon

Prazosin and Autogenic Training had an additive effect in attenuating vasomotor tone during an ambient cold challenge in patients with Raynauds phenomenon. The combination of these two treatments significantly elevated finger temperature during a 16 deg C ambient exposure, while neither treatment alone was found to produce this effect. This suggests that Autogenic Training and prazosin had an additive effect on reducing peripheral vasomotor activity.