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Ambulatory blood pressure variation is related to plasma renin activity in borderline hypertensive men
G D James1, T G Pickering, J H Laragh
1Cardiovascular Center, Cornell University Medical College--New York Hospital, New York City 10021.
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the variability of awake ambulatory blood pressure and the level of plasma renin activity (PRA) in age-matched samples of untreated hypertensive white men. The ambulatory pressures of 376 men (145 under 45 years of age, 231 over 45) were compared across three levels of PRA: less than 1.0 ng/mL/h, 1.0 to 4.0 ng/mL/h and 4.0 ng/mL/h or greater. The results showed that the average diastolic pressure declined with PRA, particularly in men under 45 (95 to 89; P less than .05), but that among the men 45 and older there was a strong, positive relationship between awake diastolic pressure variability and the level of PRA (p less than .001). These results may have important clinical implications since both higher PRA and greater blood pressure variability have been associated with a greater cardiovascular disease risk.