POTS Ab Aim#1

Summary

Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) is a disabling disorder that typically affects women of childbearing age. The hallmark feature is that there is an excessive increase in heart rate on standing, and this is associated with numerous symptoms when upright that get better when lying down. We do not understand WHY people get POTS, but there is a suggestion that autoantibodies (AAb; antibodies within us that target our own body) may play a role. Specifically, we are interested in AAb that may target different types of adrenalin receptors.

In this study, we seek to characterize the physiology of POTS with formal cardiovascular autonomic reflex testing, blood draws to characterize the POTS and to look for autoantibodies, and inflammatory markers, and then give small amounts of short-acting medications that target different adrenalin receptors to see the effect on heart rates and blood pressures.

This may help us to better understand the cause of POTS in some people, and come up with better ways of treating this disorder.