An experimental study of the vasomotor collapse induced by sodium nitrite in normal subjects in the upright position has revealed that the state of collapse is accompanied by a fall in venous pressure and an inadequate return of venous blood to the heart from the lower half of the body (1).As long as the subject remains in the prone position, a small dose of sodium nitrite will produce no symptoms and only slight, if any, measurable circulatory changes in terms of blood pressure. heart rate, arterial blood flow or venous pressure. When the subject is raised from the horizontal to the upright position after the same dose of nitrite, however, he soon develops signs and symptoms of collapse. After nitrite has been given, the peripheral circulation is unable to adjust itself to the strain of the orthostatic position.Our purpose in the present work was further to clarify the mechanism of the nitrite collapse. On rising to the upright position, the greatest relative change in the circulation is on the venous side of the vascular system in the lower half of the body. Here the venous pressure is normally raised from an average prone value of 5 cm. of water to about 100 cm. of water in the feet and 50 cm. in the abdomen. This consideration, as well as the fact that previous studies revealed no appreciable dilatation of the arterioles or change in the cardiac output after nitrite (2), turned our attention to the venous side of the circulation as possibly one of the most important sites of action of sodium nitrite. We therefore undertook to test the effect of nitrite on the distensibility of the peripheral vascular beds under increases in venous pressure.WVe were particularly interested to know whether the effect of nitrite on the venous systemi is generalized or limited to certain vascular areas, such as the splanchnics.In the present study, the hands of normal sub- ' This investigation was aided in part by a grant from the Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation. jects were placed under known increases in venous pressure, anid the corresponding increases in hand volume were measured both before and after the administration of nitrite. The subject remained in the prone position and in this way other factors, such as changes in arterial blood pressure, pulse or blood flow, were eliminated. Capps, working in this laboratory, developed this method as a means of measuring the tone or " resistance to stretch " of the capillaries. venules and veins of the hands in both normal and diseased states (3). WVe have used this procedure, with minor modifications, with satisfactory results.
METHODThe subject rested in a comfortable horizontal position for at least 45 minutes after all apparatus had been adjusted before any observations were begun, and remained in this position throughout an experiment. Arterial blood pressure was determined in the arm by the usual auscultatory method, using a mercury manometer. The heart rate was counted by arterial palpation or from the plethysmographic tracings. The rate of blood flow was determined by Freeman'...