In recent years, the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system has been shown to be crucial not only in blood pressure haemostasis but also in the evolution of atherosclerosis, which ultimately determines morbidity and mortality. The angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and, recently, the angiotensin receptor blockers (with their low adverse-effect profile) have added a new dimension to the drug...

Hypertension is defined as average systolic blood pressure and/or diastolic blood pressure that are ≥95th percentile for gender, age, and height on ≥3 occasions (1). Renal parenchymal disease and essential hypertension are the most important causes in <12 and >12 years, respectively (2). Hypertension with hypokalaemia and suppression of plasma renin activity is known as mineralocorticoid hypert...

Idiopathic primary hyperaldosteronism (IHA) and low-renin essential hypertension (LREH) are common forms of hypertension, characterized by an elevated aldosterone-renin ratio and hypersensitivity to angiotensin II. They are suggested to be 2 states within a disease spectrum that progresses from LREH to IHA as the control of aldosterone production by the renin-angiotensin system is weakened. The...

1. Patients with mild low-renin hypertension characteristically have increased central blood volume. The total blood volume is normal; the larger central blood volume reflects a shift of the blood from peripheral to central (cardiopulmonary) segments of the capacity system. 2. A relationship between central blood volume and plasma renin activity is demonstrable during tilting in normal and hype...

Patients with renin-producing tumours are characterized by high circulating active renin and aldosterone levels, hypokalaemia and high blood pressure. Most renin-secreting tumours are of renal origin and are thought to arise from the juxtaglomerular apparatus. Extrarenal renin-secreting tumours are very rare. Pulmonary [1], pancreatic [2], orbital [3] and other origins have been described. Ovar...

1. Human plasma contains two types of renin: one is active in its native form (active renin), the other has renin-like activity after exposure to low pH (inactive renin). Reactions of acid-activated plasma renin and kidney renin with either homo­ logous or heterologous substrate showed identical Km values. 2. Peripheral venous values for active and inactive renin in essential hypertension (n = ...

The renin-angiotensin system was examined in 146 black patients with essential hypertension. Classification into three categories was made according to plasma renin activity as measured by the radioimmunoassay of Angiotensin I and the accompanying sodium excretion. Differences among patients in the three renin groups (low, normal, and high) were not observed with respect to the incidence of cer...

Newly developed IRMAs to measure the plasma concentrations of renin and prorenin were validated for clinical use and compared with a classical enzyme kinetic assay. The IRMAs involve two monoclonal antibodies, one that reacts equally well with renin and prorenin and one that recognizes renin well but prorenin only minimally. Prorenin reactivity with the second antibody was enhanced by adding th...

The newly established rat strain TGR(mREN2)27 is a monogenetic model in hypertension research. Microinjecting the mouse Ren-2d renin gene caused it to become a stable part of the genome. The rats are characterized by fulminant hypertension, low plasma active renin, suppressed kidney renin, high plasma inactive renin, and high extrarenal transgene expression, most prominently in the adrenal cort...

We examined tbe responses to volume expansion and contraction in normals, essential hypertensives, and patients with secondary hypertension, in order to formulate a more precise method of categorizing essential hypertensives with respect to plasma renin and aldosterone responses. We studied 379 normal and 464 hypertensive patients during and after a 4 hour 2 liter intravenous saline infusion, a...