Higher plasma Na+,K+-ATPase inhibitory activity in essential hypertensive patients

The ability of plasma to inhibit 86 rubidium uptake in rat aorta and to displace [3H]-ouabain from hog brain Na+,K+-ATPase was used as a measure of plasma Na+,K+-ATPase inhibitory activity in seven normotensive and eight hypertensive subjects. Rat aortae rings were incubated in oxygenated plasma containing 86 rubidium (2 microCi/mL) for 30 mins at 37 degrees C and uptake measured and expressed as mumol/kg wet weight/min. Plasma was extracted with a mixture of chloroform and methanol (2:1) and the extract separated by silicic acid column followed by thin layer chromatography and fractions assayed for ouabain displacement using digoxin as a standard. Total ouabain displacement was calculated as the sum of all fractions. There was a strong correlation between the two methods for total plasma Na+,K+-ATPase inhibitory activity (r = 0.761, P less than 0.01). There was a significant positive correlation between plasma Na+,K+-ATPase inhibitory activity and blood pressure in all subjects. Na+,K+-ATPase inhibitory activity was significantly higher in plasma of hypertensives by both methods (P less than 0.001). The increased Na+,K+-ATPase inhibitory activity in plasma from hypertensives was due to the nonesterified fatty acid, long chain acylcarnitine and diphosphatidylglycerol fractions.