Search

Endothelium-dependent vasodilation is reduced in essential hypertensive subjects. To evaluate whether this abnormality is a primary defect or is a consequence of blood pressure increment, in offspring of essential hypertensive and normotensive subjects (n = 13 subjects for each group) matched for age, sex, body weight, and blood pressure, we studied the response of forearm vasculature to acetylcholine (ACh) (an endothelium-dependent vasodilator), sodium nitroprusside (a direct vasodilator of vascular smooth muscle), and forearm ischemia (13 min plus 1 min of exercise) to induce maximal vasodilation. Drugs were infused into the brachial artery at cumulative doses (ACh: 0.15, 0.45, 1.5, 4.5, and 15 micrograms/100 ml of forearm tissue/min; sodium nitroprusside: 1, 3, and 10 micrograms/100 ml of forearm tissue/min) while forearm blood flow was measured by strain-gauge venous plethysmography. The intra-arterial blood pressure and heart rate were continuously monitored. Despite a comparable forearm vascular response to sodium nitroprusside and to forearm ischemia, the effect of ACh was significantly (p < 0.001) reduced in offspring of hypertensive subjects compared to the offspring of normotensive subjects. These data indicate that ACh-mediated forearm vasodilation is reduced in normotensive subjects with a familial history of essential hypertension, a finding that suggests that endothelium dysfunction can precede the appearance of hypertension and that this abnormality might play a role in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension.

The present study was designed to evaluate the renal haemodynamic pattern of never-treated microalbuminuric and normoalbuminuric patients with essential hypertension. A total of 19 never-treated essential hypertensive patients with microalbuminuria were selected and, as control subjects, 24 never-treated essential hypertensive patients without microalbuminuria (determined on three 24-h urine collections) were recruited. In the two groups, we compared blood pressure values, standing plasma noradrenaline, plasma renin activity, plasma aldosterone, urinary aldosterone, lipid profile, serum glucose and uric acid, glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow. In comparison with normoalbuminuric patients, microalbuminuric patients showed significantly higher systolic blood pressure values (P < 0.05), higher renal vascular resistances (P < 0.05) and lower plasma renin activity values (P < 0.01). Urinary albumin excretion showed a significant positive correlation with systolic (r = 0.46, P < 0.005) and mean blood pressure (r = 0.38, P < 0.05), serum uric acid (r = 0.43, P < 0.005) and triglyceride values (r = 0.36, P < 0.005), and a significant negative correlation with plasma renin activity (r = -0.34, P < 0.05). The present data are consistent with the occurrence of renal vasoconstriction in microalbuminuric never-treated essential hypertensive patients.

We tested the hypothesis that the status of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system affects insulin sensitivity. Insulin sensitivity (by the euglycaemic insulin clamp technique) was measured in eight patients with angiographically proven renovascular hypertension and in eight normotensive subjects matched for age, gender, body mass index and glucose tolerance. In the patients, insulin sensitivity was measured both at baseline and following 7 days of ACE inhibition. Following glucose ingestion, patients and controls showed similar insulin and glucose responses. Insulin infusion (7 pmol min-1 kg-1) promoted similar glucose utilization in the hypertensives and normotensives: 24.8 +/- 2.3 vs. 26.0 +/- 3.0 mumol min-1 kg-1 respectively. One week of ACE inhibition caused a 20 +/- 4 mmHg decrease in mean blood pressure and a 20 +/- 6% decrease in peripheral vascular resistance. Plasma angiotensin II concentrations dropped from 24.6 +/- 6.3 to 13.5 +/-5.0 pg mL-1 (P < 0.05) and plasma aldosterone from 17 +/- 4 to 9 +/- 2 ng dL-1 (P < 0.05), and plasma renin activity doubled (from 1.6 +/- 0.3 to 3.4 +/- 1.7 ng mL-1 h-1, P < 0.02). Nevertheless, insulin sensitivity was unchanged (before, 24.8 +/- 2.3; after 25.8 +/- 2.2 mumol min-1 kg-1, P = Ns). During insulin infusion, forearm blood flow did not change from baseline in either set of studies. Also, the antinatriuretic (before, -26 +/- 18; after, -22 +/- 14%) and antikaliuretic (before: -36 +/- 13%, after -39 +/- 11%) action of the hormone was unaffected by the therapy. In conclusion, renovascular hypertension is not associated with insulin resistance. Furthermore, a selective, drastic reduction of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activity and vascular tone does not alter insulin action on glucose and electrolyte metabolism.

SHORT- VERSUS LONG-ACTING ANGIOTENSIN CONVERTING ENZYME (ACE) INHIBITORS: Although ACE inhibitors are widely used in the treatment of hypertension, there are few data on trough:peak ratios and the data are contradictory. Part of the explanation for this lies in differences in pharmacological properties. Depending on the kinetics of elimination, the trough:peak ratio of short- and long-acting ACE inhibitors has to be evaluated according to a dose regimen of twice or once a day, respectively, and must take account of the dose used, since long-acting ACE inhibitors appear to have a dose-dependent trough:peak effect. Further explanations for the contradictory trough:peak ratios reported for ACE inhibitors include measurement methods (clinic blood pressure versus ambulatory monitoring) and study design. TROUGH:PEAK RATIO: Data from randomly allocated, placebo-controlled studies indicate that both the short-acting ACE inhibitors captopril and quinapril given twice a day and the long-acting ACE inhibitors enalapril, lisinopril, benazepril and cilazapril given once a day have an acceptable trough:peak ratio (50%). The evidence suggests that when chemically different ACE inhibitors with similar kinetics of elimination are administered at equipotent doses, similar trough:peak ratios are obtained.

To investigate the potentials and limitations of Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) of the renal arteries at mid-field strength, 16 patients with arterial hypertension of suspected renovascular origin were submitted to MRA at 0.5 T with the two-dimensional (2D) phase-contrast technique and to arteriography. MRA yielded diagnostic images in 15 (94%) patients in whom MRA and arteriography identified 38 and 39 renal arteries, respectively. MRA sensitivity and specificity to steno-occlusive alterations of the renal arteries demonstrated by arteriography were 83% and 96%, respectively. These results, although obtained in a small group of patients, indicate that MRA of the renal arteries with a mid-field MR system and the 2D phase-contrast technique can allow the diagnosis of steno-occlusive alterations of the renal arteries. Main MRA limitations were its long acquisition time and some variability in the quality of the MRA images. Nevertheless, the ongoing rapid technical developments in the hardware of MR systems leave room for improving the accuracy of mid-field MRA of the renal arteries and justifies optimism as to its role in the screening of renovascular hypertension.

To evaluate the magnitude and duration of the antihypertensive effect of sustained release (SRO) isradipine, 37 uncomplicated essential hypertensive patients (diastolic blood pressure 100-115 mm Hg after a one month run-in on placebo) were randomised to receive, according to a double-blind cross-over design, isradipine SRO 5 mg once daily and the corresponding placebo for 1 month. At the end of each treatment period, sitting blood pressure and heart rate were measured immediately before and every hour for 6 h after the last dose. Thirty-four patients [16 m, age 54 (7) y] completed the study. As compared to randomised placebo, isradipine SRO significantly reduced the systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure. Absolute DBP decrements versus placebo peaked 6 h after dosing (-8.8 mm Hg) and were not significantly lower (-8.2 mm Hg) at the end of the dose interval. At the same times, the absolute decrements in SBP were -9.8 mm Hg and -9.7 mm Hg, respectively. DBP was normalised in 19 patients (56%) at peak and in 17 (50%) at trough time. The trough to peak efficacy ratio in patients with peak DBP < or = 90 mm Hg was 70%. Heart rate was slightly increased by isradipine SRO. Adverse effects monitored with a check-list occurred in 8/36 patients (22%) on isradipine SRO and in 4/35 (11%) on randomized placebo. The data suggest that isradipine SRO is an effective antihypertensive drug, with a trough to peak efficacy ratio supporting once daily administration in most mild to moderate essential hypertensives.

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether nocturnal blood pressure fall is blunted in renovascular hypertension and can therefore be used as a diagnostic criterion for this condition. METHODS In 14 renovascular hypertensive patients (age 43.8+/-2.1 years, mean+/-SEM, clinic blood pressure 173.6+/-3.7 mmHg systolic and 109.0+/-2.0 mmHg diastolic) and in 14 age- and blood pressure-matched essential hypertensive controls 24 h ambulatory blood pressure was measured after washout from drug treatment, during angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor treatment and, in renovascular hypertension, also after percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty. RESULTS The 24 h average systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 146.4+/-5.7 and 97.5+/-3.6 mmHg in renovascular and 144.3+/-1.2 and 98.0+/-2.2 mmHg in essential hypertensive patients. The angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor treatment reduced 24 h average systolic and diastolic blood pressures by 8.5% and 9.7% in the renovascular and by 8.3% and 10.8% in the essential hypertensive group. Greater systolic and diastolic blood pressure reductions (-18.2% and -18.1%) were observed in renovascular hypertensive patients after percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty. Blood pressure fell by about 10% during the night and the fall was similar in renovascular and in essential hypertensive patients. In the former group, nocturnal hypotension was similar after washout, during angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor treatment and after percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty. Similar results were obtained for nocturnal bradycardia. CONCLUSIONS Nocturnal blood pressure fall is equally manifest in renovascular and essential hypertension. The removal of the renal artery stenosis and blood pressure normalization do not enhance this phenomenon. Nocturnal hypotension seems therefore to be unaffected by renovascular hypertension.

SHORT- VERSUS LONG-ACTING ANGIOTENSIN CONVERTING ENZYME (ACE) INHIBITORS: Although ACE inhibitors are widely used in the treatment of hypertension, there are few data on trough:peak ratios and the data are contradictory. Part of the explanation for this lies in differences in pharmacological properties. Depending on the kinetics of elimination, the trough:peak ratio of short- and long-acting ACE inhibitors has to be evaluated according to a dose regimen of twice or once a day, respectively, and must take account of the dose used, since long-acting ACE inhibitors appear to have a dose-dependent trough:peak effect. Further explanations for the contradictory trough:peak ratios reported for ACE inhibitors include measurement methods (clinic blood pressure versus ambulatory monitoring) and study design. TROUGH:PEAK RATIO: Data from randomly allocated, placebo-controlled studies indicate that both the short-acting ACE inhibitors captopril and quinapril given twice a day and the long-acting ACE inhibitors enalapril, lisinopril, benazepril and cilazapril given once a day have an acceptable trough:peak ratio (> 50%). The evidence suggests that when chemically different ACE inhibitors with similar kinetics of elimination are administered at equipotent doses, similar trough:peak ratios are obtained.

To evaluate the acute hemodynamic, both systemic and renal, and humoral effect of three increasing doses of Iloprost, a prostacyclin analogue, eight uncomplicated untreated hospitalized patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension, while on a constant sodium and potassium intake, received, after oral hydration, three doses of Iloprost (1,2 or 4 ng/kg/body weight for 45 min) in a single-blind randomized sequence. Each dose was preceded by placebo (saline infusion for 45 min) with a 48 h interval between each study. Iloprost significantly (P less than .05) reduced blood pressure, and increased heart rate, filtered sodium, urinary sodium excretion, fractional sodium excretion, noradrenaline, adrenaline, and plasma renin activity (PRA). The blood pressure lowering effect as well as the heart rate, renal plasma flow and noradrenaline increases were significantly greater on the 4 ng dose. Glomerular filtration rate and adrenaline showed a dose-dependent increase; urinary sodium excretion and fractional sodium excretion were similarly increased by the three doses. No correlation was found between urinary sodium excretion and either glomerular filtration rate or renal plasma flow. The data obtained indicate that Iloprost causes reduction of blood pressure with a reflex activation in the sympathetic nervous system and stimulation of renin secretion, renal vasodilation mainly at the level of the afferent arteriole, and natriuresis. This latter effect is probably due to a direct inhibition of tubular reabsorption, which, at variance with the other effects, is dose-independent.

The effect of β2-agonist salbutamol on plasma renin activity (PRA) and plasma potassium was investigated in seven normal subjects, in twenty-three patients with essential hypertension and in one patient with primary aldosteronism. The action of β1-antagonist metoprolol on PRA and plasma potassium changes induced by salbutamol was also studied in one normal subject and in seven patients with essential hypertension. Salbutamol significantly increased PRA in normal subjects and in patients with essential hypertension with normal (8 cases) or high (5 cases) PRA, while it did not modify PRA in patients with essential hypertension with low PRA (10 cases), and in the patient with primary aldosteronism. Plasma potassium was significantly decreased after salbutamol both in normal and hypertensive patients: no correlation was found between PRA and plasma potassium changes. Metoprolol inhibited both PRA increments and plasma potassium decrements induced by salbutamol. These data suggest the following conclusions. β-Adrenergic receptors mediating renin release in man cannot be clearly differentiated into β-subtypes. The PRA unresponsiveness observed in patients with essential hypertension with low PRA and in the patient with primary aldosteronism indicates a decreased renal response to adrenergic stimuli, probably due to a decreased renin storage. The hypokalemic action of salbutamol cannot be explained by changes of the renin angiotensin system. Moreover the β-receptors mediating the decrease of plasma potassium cannot be clearly differentiated into β-subtypes.

1. Four different doses of labetalol (150, 300, 600 and 900 mg/day) were given for 1 week to each of four groups of patients with essential hypertension (six patients for each group). 2. Labetalol decreased mean blood pressure and heart rate to the same extent on the first and the seventh days of treatment. Only standing blood pressure showed a dose-dependent decrement, and heart rate showed a dose-dependent inhibition both in the supine and upright position. 3. Labetalol exerted a net inhibitory effect on plasma renin activity, which was related to basal renin values and was already maximal at the lowest doses. This effect was well maintained in the supine position, although during standing it tended to be less evident with increasing doses. 4. Urinary aldosterone was decreased in a dose-dependent fashion and its changes were largely independent of plasma renin activity. 5. Neither basal values nor changes of renin and aldosterone were related to the hypotensive effect of labetalol. 6. During labetalol treatment urinary sodium excretion fell for 2–3 days and then returned to basal values. The retentive effect of labetalol on sodium was directly related to the decrease of blood pressure, and the successive sodium escape might be explained either by the observed increase of plasma volume (indirectly measured by packed cell volume) or by aldosterone inhibition.

A retrospective analysis of renal vein renin results has been done in 96 patients with renal artery stenosis and hypertension studied in two Italian centers (Sassari and Pisa) with respect to the outcome of either surgery or percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA). In all patients the renal vein renin ratio and the V-A/A ratios for the affected and unaffected kidney were calculated. Each patient underwent surgery (75) of PTA (21): 71 subjects were cured, 17 improved whereas the arterial pressure did not vary after revascularisation procedure in 8 patients. In the Pisa series all 54 patients showed a lateralisation with contralateral renin suppression and 95% of them benefitted from surgery. In the Sassari series 42 patients were submitted to PTA or surgery, not only on the basis of a positive renal vein renin study but taking into account a complete clinical evaluation: 8 of them were cured or improved in spite of negative renal vein renin criteria. In the two series, the better predictive index appeared to be the suppression of the renin secretion from the contralateral kidney while the high/low renin ratio showed a consistent amount of false-positive and false-negative results. Our retrospective study demonstrates that the renal vein test in hypertensive patients with renal artery stenosis is highly predictive of the curability of the disease, particularly when contralateral suppression of renin secretion is present. On the other hand, since patients with negative renin indexes can also take benefit from surgery of PTA, the renin parameters cannot be adopted as the sole criterion in making the decision to operate.

1. Postural changes of plasma renin activity (PRA) before and after the administration of a beta-blocking agent (oxprenolol) were studied in nine patients with renal homotransplantation and in ten normal subjects. 2. In normal subjects PRA always increased during upright posture without any correlation with postural changes in mean arterial pressure. Oxprenolol reduced the postural increase of PRA. 3. A postural increase of PRA could be detected as early as 20–25 days after renal transplantation, and appeared with increasing frequency as time elapsed. 4. There was a significant inverse correlation (r−0.794,P 5. These results suggest that in patients with renal homotransplantation the postural increase of PRA can only partly be due to circulating catecholamines or the sympathetic nervous system and may be explained by inverse changes in the mean arterial pressure.

We have previously shown that enalapril, when given acutely to renovascular patients, exerted a dose-dependent hypotensive effect. To address the same problem in chronically treated essential hypertensives, we studied 116 uncomplicated essential hypertensives, whose diastolic blood pressure was greater than or equal to 95 mm Hg at the end of a two-week placebo run-in period (time 0). According to a randomized crossover design, these patients received three doses (10, 20, or 40 mg) of enalapril qd and a placebo, each treatment being given for one month. At the end of each treatment period as well as at time 0, blood pressure and heart rate were measured 24 hours after the last dosing. In spite of a two-week run-in placebo period, placebo treatment further and significantly reduced blood pressure; however enalapril further and significantly reduced blood pressure when compared to placebo. Although absolute blood pressure values after 40 mg of enalapril were significantly lower than those after 10 mg of enalapril the relevance of this difference, mainly when compared to placebo, seems to be inconsistent. Taken together these data suggest that the hypotensive effect of enalapril chronically given to essential hypertensives and measured 24 hours after last dosing, is dose independent.

It is still controversial whether the reduction of Na as well as the increase of K intake in hypertensive patients can reduce blood pressure (1,2,3,4), and the mechanisms which account for blood pressure decrease following a low Na intake are still debated. Aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of a K-rich/Na-poor salt (NaCl 50%, KCl 25%, K3C6H5O6 15%) in lowering blood pressure levels.

The radioimmunological dosages of renin and of aldosterone are used nowadays in clinical practice for research purposes only. The measurement of activity of plasma renin may be considered a significant indication of the concentration of the enzime in plasma and, indirectly, of its secretion. Several factors take a part in the regulation of renin secretion (mean arterial pressure, introduction of sodium and potassium, the sympathetic nervous system, ADH and concentration of angiotensin II in plasma). In pathological conditions such factors may cause alteration of the renin-angiotensin II system, thus determining hyperreninisms and hyporeninisms, whether associated with arterial hypertension or not. Several factors take a part on aldosterone secretion too (ACTH, sodiaemia, potassiaemia, renin-angiotensin II system). In pathological conditions the alteration of the regulation system may lead to hyperaldosteronism or to hypoaldosteronism of primary or secondary type. A survey of recent research on the physiopathology of the renin-aldosterone system is also given.

We studied the role of alpha-adrenoceptors in controlling renin release by infusing increasing doses of phentolamine into six patients with essential hypertension. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the relative importance of alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors, phentolamine infusion was repeated in the same patients after pretreatment with prazosin, a selective alpha 1-blocking agent, and oxprenolol, a nonselective beta-blocker. After placebo, phentolamine infusion did not change mean blood pressure or heart rate and increased plasma renin activity (PRA) in a dose-dependent fashion. This finding suggests that the drug acts directly on the intrarenal renin producing apparatus and seems to confirm the inhibitory role of alpha-adrenoceptors in the control of renin release. After prazosin and oxprenolol pretreatment, PRA was respectively increased and decreased but it was unmodified by phentolamine infusion. This latter finding may indicate that both alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors are involved in renin release or that alpha-adrenoceptors cannot be clearly differentiated into alpha 1- and alpha 2-subtypes.

The effect of indomethacin on plasma renin activity (PRA), urinary aldosterone, 17 OH ketogenic steroids and plasma Cortisol was studied in twenty-three patients with essential hypertension and compared in eleven patients to Oxprenolol effect by 2 x 2 factorial trial. Indomethacin decreased PRA and urinary aldosterone: its effect was maintained when the drug was given for three days and it was related to basal PRA and aldosterone values. Therefore in patients with low PRA (renin-sodium index) PRA and aldosterone were unchanged, while they decreased in the normal high PRA group. Aldosterone changes were related to those of PRA, while 17 OH ketogenic steroids and plasma Cortisol were unchanged. Both indomethacin and Oxprenolol decreased PRA, but no interaction or additive effect was found between the two drugs. The present data indicate that indomethacin can decrease both PRA and aldosterone to an extent which is related to basal values and that aldosterone changes are mainly explained by those of PRA. The PRA unresponsiveness to indomethacin found in low renin patients may suggest renal prostaglandin deficiency. Finally the lack of interaction or of additive effect between indomethacin and Oxprenolol may be explained by postulating either that the two drugs act on a common pathway or that an additive effect on PRA cannot be detected renin being maximally suppressed by full renal beta-receptors blockade.

1. Plasma renin activity (PRA) in peripheral venous blood of patients with renovascular hypertension was found to be high (thirty-five), normal (twenty-one) and low (three). Twenty-one patients with high PRA were cured or improved after successful surgery, as were eight of eleven with normal PRA and one with a low PRA. After surgery high PRA values became normal or low. 2. A β-receptor-blocking agent (oxprenolol) decreased PRA in twenty-eight patients (responders) and it either did not modify or increased PRA in the other fifteen (non-responders). All fourteen non-responders were cured by surgery, as were thirteen out of fifteen responders; ten non-responders became responders after surgery. Oxprenolol suppressed renin secretion of both kidneys of two patients with essential hypertension, and it either decreased (six) or did not modify (four) renin secretion from the ischaemic kidney. 3. PRA measurement in renal veins of twenty-six patients with renovascular hypertension showed that only the ischaemic kidney contributes to the peripheral PRA, renin secretion being suppressed in the contralateral kidney. The suppression of renin secretion from the ischaemic kidney produced either by nephrectomy (nine) or by aortorenal by-pass (six) normalized blood pressure. 4. Peripheral PRA values are of poor diagnostic significance and PRA unresponsiveness to a β-receptor-blocking drug and the suppression of renin secretion from the ischaemic kidney are characteristic findings of renovascular hypertension curable by appropriate surgery.

The effect of bumetanide on absolute and fractional sodium excretion, creatinine clearance, and plasma renin activity (PRA) was studied in eight patients with essential hypertension before and after indomethacin. After bumetanide, urinary sodium excretion increased only in the first 4 hr, creatinine clearance only in the first 2 hr, and PRA rose progressively. After indomethacin, bumetanide caused a smaller increase in urinary sodium excretion, decreased creatinine clearance, and caused a small early and late PRA rise. Prostaglandin inhibition and indomethacin did not, per se, affect the tubular natriuretic mechanism but they abolished both early vascular and sustained PRA-stimulating effects of bumetanide.

The behaviour of active (AR) and inactive (IR) renin was studied in 48 hypertensive patients (37 with uncomplicated essential hypertension and 11 with reno-vascular hypertension) treated with indomethacin alone or with AR stimulating (bumetanide, tienilic acid, captopril) and inhibiting (atenolol) drugs before and after indomethacin addition. In 10 pts indomethacin (50mg q.i.d./3 days) reduced (p less than 0.05) AR and to a lesser extent IR. In 6 pts bumetanide (1 mg) increased (p less than 0.05) only AR and this effect was abolished by indomethacin. In 6 pts tienilic acid (250 mg) increased (p less than 0.05) only AR and this action was unchanged by indomethacin. In 11 renovascular pts captopril (100mg) increased AR (p less than 0.01) and lesser IR and both these effects were uninfluenced by indomethacin. In 11 essential hypertensive pts captopril (25mg b.i.d./3 days) increased only AR (p less than 0.02), but after 1 year both AR and IR were increased (p less than 0.05) and these effects were abolished by indomethacin. In all the above reported protocols we did never find any inverse correlation between either AR and IR values or their induced changes. These data suggest that prostaglandins stimulate, even if not to a similar extent, both AR and IR and that drugs, which stimulate renin either through or independently of PGs, did not cause any apparent interconversion of plasma IR into AR. In 6 pts atenolol (100 mg daily/6 days) reduced AR (p less than 0.05) and tended to increase IR. Indomethacin addition further decreased AR and reduced IR (both p less than 0.05 vs atenolol alone): however the proportion (% of total) of IR was still reduced. These findings suggest that beta 1-adrenoreceptors blockade exerts a divergent effect on active and inactive renin and that this action is not influenced by PGs synthesis inhibition.

PRA was simultaneously measured in both renal veins and in a peripheral vein of patients with essential (6) and renovascular (37) hypertension. In renovascular patients suppression or renin secretion from the contralateral kidney was always observed: otherwise in patients with essential hypertension both kidneys contribute to peripheral PRA. The suppression of renin secretion from the ischemic kidney either by nephrectomy or by revascularization, joins with normalization either of peripheral PRA or of blood pressure. This finding points to the role of the renin-angiotensin system in the genesis of human renovascular hypertension.

Supine and upright plasma renin activity (PRA) were measured i 104 normal subjects (age range 13-74 years, 71 males and 33 females) on a constant diet of normal potassium (60-80 mEq/day) and of varying but constant, sodium content (range 10-260 mEq/day). Both supine and upright PRA values were inversely related to the 24-hour urinary sodium excretion, while only upright PRA values showed a significant inverse correlation with age. Through a multiple regression analysis it was shown that age increased the significance of the PRA/sodium relationship by about 10%. Besides posture, two other factors seem to influence the PRA-age relationship: the age range and the sodium intake. In fact, the PRA-age relationship was not detectable either when subjects below 20 and above 50 were excluded, or when sodium intake was increased above 140 mEq/day. These data can explain the contrasting reports on the age influence on renin secretion. The relationship between PRA and urinary sodium confirms the dependance of PRA on the state of sodium balance. Age significantly influences the PRA/sodium relationship of normal subjects on normal or low sodium intake and in the upright position. Therefore, the decline of PRA with age may be explained by the decrease either of renin storage or of sympathetic nervous system activity on renin release.

We evaluated the acute blood pressure lowering effect of enalapril in terms of dose-response curve and compared this effect with that on humoral parameters. Eleven renovascular patients with acute angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition received (according to a randomized double-blind cross-over design) placebo, 10, 20, and 40 mg of enalapril with a 72-hour interval between each dose. Seated blood pressure and heart rate were measured every hour for 6 hours and then again at the twelfth and twenty-fourth hour, while venous blood samples for plasma renin activity, plasma aldosterone and serum ACE measurements were obtained at the fourth and twenty-fourth hour after receiving the placebo or drug. Blood pressure was significantly reduced by all three doses of enalapril at hour 4, while at hour 24 it was reduced only by the 20- and 40-mg doses. A significant correlation (r = 0.68; P less than 0.001) was found between percentage decrements of mean blood pressure and the log of the doses at hour 4 with a similar (although not significant) trend at hour 24. Plasma renin activity was significantly and to a similar extent increased by the three doses of enalapril at hour 4, while at hour 24 it was significantly increased only by the 40-mg dose. Serum ACE and plasma aldosterone were significantly reduced both at hours 4 and 24 without any difference between doses. No correlation was found between mean blood pressure changes and those of humoral factors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A double-blind, cross-over study in 16 patients with essential hypertension was carried out, to evaluate any possible interference by indomethacin, a known prostaglandin-synthetase inhibitor, with the antihypertensive effect of oxprenolol, a non-selective beta-adrenoceptor blocking agent. Both indomethacin and oxprenolol, as well as the two drugs combined, inhibited plasma renin activity; no change was found in urinary sodium excretion or body weight. Oxprenolol alone caused a highly significant decrease in the systolic ( - 10.4 mmHg, p less than 0.001), diastolic ( - 7.4 mmHg, p less than 0.001) and mean ( - 7.7 mmHg, p less than 0.01) blood pressures, whereas indomethacin did not influence blood pressure. When the two drugs were given in combination, blood pressure decreased (systolic: - 5.9 mmHg; diastolic: - 4.0 mmHg; mean: - 4.6 mmHg), but the changes induced in blood pressure were reduced by about 50% when compared with those in the oxprenolol alone period. The data show that indomethacin seems to interfere with the antihypertensive effect of oxprenolol, by an action which may be due to the inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis.

SUMMARY 1. Phentolamine was infused at low increasing doses (0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 mg/min) in five patients with unilateral renal artery stenosis measuring active and inactive (cryoactivable) renin in the renal veins from the stenosed and nonstenosed kidney and in a peripheral vein. 2. PRA values from the stenosed kidney (11.59, s.e.m. = 5.79 pmol ang I/ml per h) were higher than those in the peripheral vein (5.19, s.e.m. =2.64) while these latter were similar to those from the contralateral kidney (5.09, s.e.m. =2.93). Phentolamine significantly increased PRA from the stenosed kidney and in the peripheral vein in a dose-related manner. PRA changes were unrelated both to blood pressure decrements and to heart rate increments induced by the drug. 3. Before phentolamine, inactive renin from the stenosed kidney (5.19, s.e.m. = 2.84 pmol ang I/ml per h) did not differ significantly from that on the contralateral side (3.15, s.e.m. = 1.96) and in the peripheral vein (4.40, s.e.m. = 1.96). Phentolamine induced significant (P < 0.005) increments of inactive renin only from the stenosed kidney at the doses of 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 mg/min. Inactive renin from the contralateral kidney was unchanged and it tended to increase, but not to a significant extent, in the peripheral vein. A highly significant relationship was found between active and inactive renin from the stenosed kidney (r = 0.79, P < 0.001, n= 25) and in peripheral blood (r = 0.71, P < 0.001, n= 25) but not from the stenosed kidney (r = 0.29, n= 25). 4. These results suggest that phentolamine, infused at low increasing doses causes an increase of PRA only in the stenosed kidney, an action which does not seem to be wholly explained by either sympathetic nervous system activation or decrease of renal perfusion pressure, and which suggests an action on intrarenal a-adrenoreceptors. Furthermore, phentolamine stimulated inactive renin release only from the stenosed kidney without evidence of intrarenal conversion of the inactive into the active form.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are a new class of drugs, whose main indications are the treatment of hypertension and of heart failure. Data obtained with captopril, the first orally active ACE inhibitor, affords an understanding of the rationale of their therapeutic use based on the knowledge of their mechanisms of action, efficacy, contraindications and precautions, dosage and frequency of administration, side-effects, interactions and advantages. ACE inhibitors appear to exert their haemodynamic effect mainly by inhibiting the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, but also by modulating sympathetic nervous system activity and by increasing prostaglandin synthesis. Therefore they act both on vasoconstrictor and volume factors, since they cause vasodilation (the main effect) and mild natriuresis without affecting the heart rate and contractility and, probably, favourably influencing renal, coronary and cerebral circulation. So far it appears that ACE inhibitors can be usefully employed in the treatment of heart failure, in which they reduce both pre- and after-load, and mainly of hypertension. In the past captopril has been used to treat only severe and or resistant hypertension and some secondary forms, like renal parenchymal and renovascular hypertension, but now it seems that captopril is useful also to treat mild to moderate essential hypertension. Their efficacy in reducing blood pressure is similar to that of thiazide diuretics and of beta-blockers, the two drugs now considered of first choice and they exert their hypotensive action without the development of pseudotolerance or tolerance. ACE inhibitors seem, at the moment, contraindicated in pregnancy and in hyperkalaemic syndromes and must be used with caution in patients with collagen disease (mainly associated with renal failure), with severe bilateral renal artery stenosis (and with severe artery stenosis of a solitary kidney) and with severe sodium depletion. It is now established that captopril has a flat dose response curve and that it must be given (twice daily) at a dose not exceeding 150 mg/day. The same pharmacological approach must be used with future ACE inhibitors in order to establish the right posology and the frequency of administration. In this respect enalapril seems to be a promising ACE inhibitor with a prolonged action (at least 24 hours). The exact posology of ACE inhibitors might be crucial, since it has been shown that the side-effects of captopril (skin rashes, fever, taste disturbances, proteinuria and neutropenia) are dose dependent.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

We have previously shown that enalapril, when given acutely to renovascular patients, exerted a dose-dependent hypotensive effect. To address the same problem in chronically treated essential hypertensives, we studied 116 uncomplicated essential hypertensives, whose diastolic blood pressure was greater than or equal to 95 mm Hg at the end of a two-week placebo run-in period (time 0). According to a randomized crossover design, these patients received three doses (10, 20, or 40 mg) of enalapril qd and a placebo, each treatment being given for one month. At the end of each treatment period as well as at time 0, blood pressure and heart rate were measured 24 hours after the last dosing. In spite of a two-week run-in placebo period, placebo treatment further and significantly reduced blood pressure; however enalapril further and significantly reduced blood pressure when compared to placebo. Although absolute blood pressure values after 40 mg of enalapril were significantly lower than those after 10 mg of enalapril the relevance of this difference, mainly when compared to placebo, seems to be inconsistent. Taken together these data suggest that the hypotensive effect of enalapril chronically given to essential hypertensives and measured 24 hours after last dosing, is dose independent.

Juxtaglomerular cell count (JGCC) and juxtaglomerular activity (JA) on the fragments of the ischemic kidney and plasma renin activity (PRA) in peripheral venous blood were studied in 26 renovascular patients. In 11 cases PRA was also measured in renal venous blood. JGCC and JA values were always above normal range and both were significantly related to the PRA values in peripheral venous blood, while only JA was related to the PRA values in renal venous blood. These data indicate that in human renovascular hypertension the juxtaglomerular apparatus is hyperplastic and hypergranulated: the correlation between its morphological appearance and PRA seems to indicate that the renin-angiotensin system may be in some way involved in the genesis of hypertension.

To test the hypothesis that acute angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition might predict the postoperative blood pressure outcome, a single oral dose of captopril ranging from 12.5 to 100 mg, was given to 26 patients with renovascular disease and its hypotensive effect was compared with that of surgery (21 patients) or of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) (5 patients). Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure fell significantly (p less than 0.001) from 179.9 +/- 5.4/114.1 +/- 2.1 to 148.4 +/- 3.8/94.1 +/- 1.9 after captopril and to 141.1 +/- 3.7/88.9 +/- 2.0 at least 3 months after operation. Postoperative pressure values were directly related to those after captopril (SBP: r = 0.65, p less than 0.001; DBP: r = 0.45, p less than 0.05) as were their absolute decrements (SBP: r = 0.70, p less than 0.001; DBP: r = 0.64, p less than 0.001). However, after captopril, individual pressure tended to be higher (and their decrements to be lower) than after operation. 12 out of 19 patients cured by surgery were considered cured by captopril, while 5 out of the remaining 7 were improved and 2 not cured. The 6 patients improved by surgery or PTA were also improved by captopril and the only patient not cured by surgery was not cured by captopril. Therefore, if we consider both cure and improvement as a positive result, the captopril test gave 23 true-positive, 1 true-negative and 2 false-negative responses. Taken together, these data suggest that acute ACE inhibition may be an useful tool in predicting postoperative blood pressure of patients with renovascular disease.

1. Clonidine inhibits plasma renin activity (PRA) in hypertensive patients, especially when administered for more than 4 days. 2. This effect is not related to sodium retention, but is probably due to inhibition of the basal sympathetic activity.