Metabolic cardiovascular risk factors and the renin-aldosterone system in essential hypertension

Impairment of glucose and lipid metabolism is common in hypertensive subjects. In the present study the relationships between indices of lipid and glucose metabolism and the renin-aldosterone system were studied in 37 untreated hypertensive subjects (DBP greater than 95 mmHg). Fasting insulin and the early insulin response at an intravenous glucose tolerance test were both correlated to plasma renin activity (r = 0.48, P less than 0.003 and r = 0.55, P less than 0.002, respectively) while HDL-cholesterol was found to be inversely related to the urinary excretion of aldosterone (r = 0.35, P less than 0.03). These relations were still significant when influences of age, sex, obesity (BMI) and serum creatinine were taken into account in the multiple regression analysis. In conclusion, hyperinsulinaemia and low levels of HDL-cholesterol were found in hypertensive subjects with a high activity of the renin-aldosterone system and might explain the high incidence of cardiovascular diseases found in this group.