Volhard lecture: sympatho-renal interactions and blood pressure control

Among the various mechanisms of cardiovascular control that might be involved in the pathogenesis of arterial hypertension, either as causative or as maintaining factors, attention has long ben devoted to the sympathetic nervous system and to the kidney. There is increasing evidence that the sympathetic nervous system and the kidney can interact in various ways, the kidney being both a target of sympathetic activity and a source of influences on the sympathetic system. The positive-feedback nature of most of these interactions suggests that sympatho-renal interactions participate in the pathogenesis of arterial hypertension, both when the initiating factor is neural and when it is renal.