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Discusses the possible predictive powers of elevated blood levels of a kidney-secreted enzyme, renin, which may point to heart-attack risk in people with moderate hypertension. Earlier retrospective study linking renin to heart attack; Details of the New York City study by Michael H. Alderman of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and John H. Laragh of the Cornell University Medical College; Possible reasons for the higher incidence of heart attack in renin group; Suggestion that angiotensin might trigger ischemia; Outlook for the enzyme to be used as a chemical marker; View of Victor J. Dzau of Stanford University School of Medicine on drug therapy such as beta blocker or angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors.