[Association between essential hypertension and immunology]

Using the immunofluorescence method, autoantibodies of serum IgG was investigated in 100 consecutive patients of essential hypertension with or without family history of hypertension. 30 healthy normotensive subjects with family history of hypertension and 40 healthy normotensive subjects of the same age range were also studied. The results showed that in the treated patients, the frequency of smooth muscle antibodies (SMA), antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA), antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and heart reactive antibodies (HRA) was higher than that in healthy normotensive subjects. The frequency of these antibodies was not associated with difference in mean arterial blood pressure, sex, and clinical stage and a possible genetic predisposition is suggested. The autoantibodies may even appear before the elevation of blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension. The above-mentioned results show that lack of autoimmunity may be one of the pathogenetic factors of essential hypertension.