Summary
Ten male patients suffering from stable angina pectoris were studied at rest and immediately after exercise during treatment either with timolol (a non-selective beta-blocker) or with metoprolol (a beta1-selective blocker). Timolol induced a significant increase in platelet aggregation and a reduction in platelet cyclic AMP, and it also raised the plasma adrenaline at rest and during exercise as compared to the pre-treatment level. Metoprolol had none of these effects. Prior to medication and during metoprolol treatment, exercise led to an increase in the peripheral platelet count, whereas timolol was associated with a reduction of platelets during physical effort. Neither drug affected platelet thromboxane B2 at rest. During exercise, its level was not affected in the pre-treatment period or during metoprolol treatment but it was sharply increased by timolol therapy.
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Winther, K., Bjerre Knudsen, J., Jørgensen, E.O. et al. Differential effects of timolol and metoprolol on platelet function at rest and during exercise. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 33, 587–592 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00542492
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00542492