To assess the effect of prostaglandin inhibition upon the vasoactive actions of endogenous and exogenous catecholamines in healthy man, indomethacin (150 mg/day for 3 days) was administered to six healthy men in the sodium-repleted state. Pretreatment with indomethacin did not interfere with the response of blood pressure and pulse rate to orthostasis (10 minutes), a cold pressor test (2 minutes), and the intravenous (i.v.) administration of norepinephrine (NE) (50,100, and 200 ng kg' 1 miir 1

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... . Basal plasma concentrations of epinephrine (E) and NE as well as the concentrations of E during orthostasis and cold pressor test remained uninfluenced by pretreatment with indomethacin. While the release of NE during orthostasis appeared to be suppressed in the indomethacin-treated state, it was unchanged during the cold pressor test. These results indicate that inhibition of endogenous prostaglandin synthesis may suppress the release of NE, but does not have a major impact on the vasoactive actions of endogenous and exogenous catecholamines in normal man. (Hypertension 4: 112-117, 1982) KEY WORDS • indomethacin • prostaglandins • epinephrine • norepinephrine