Blood pressure, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis and cortisol changes during withdrawal from alcohol

Nineteen patients who had been drinking on the day of admission had significantly raised levels of renin, aldosterone and cortisol and a non-significant increase in angiotensin II. Five patients were hypertensive (systolic blood pressure greater than 160 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure greater than 95 mmHg) at some point during the study and there was a significant tachycardia. Over the first 4 days of abstinence there were falls in all of the measures reaching significance for renin, cortisol, systolic blood pressure and pulse. There were no correlations between blood pressure and any of the hormones measured although there was a significant association between pulse and both aldosterone and cortisol. It is concluded that the activity in the renin-angiotensin axis and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is not responsible for alcohol-related changes in blood pressure.