Alpha- and beta-adrenergic receptors in children with essential hypertension

Platelet alpha 2- and lymphocyte beta-adrenergic receptors were examined in eight children aged 10-16 years with essential hypertension, and in 11 age-matched normotensive children. Both alpha 2- and beta-adrenergic receptor concentrations showed no significant differences between children with essential hypertension and normotensive children. According to other studies, physiological fluctuations in catecholamines determine lymphocyte beta-adrenergic receptor concentrations, although down-regulation in platelet alpha 2-adrenergic receptors has not been observed. The present findings suggest that there may be no abnormalities in alpha 2- and beta-adrenergic receptors in essential hypertension in childhood, although a hyperadrenergic state has been reported to be of some relevance to the pathogenesis of essential hypertension in young adolescents.