Ion transport in hypertension: are changes in the cell membrane responsible?

Disturbances in several, distinct cell membrane ion transport processes have been demonstrated in essential hypertension but their variable relationship to blood pressure in different populations has made it difficult to achieve a unifying hypothesis. We suggest that altered composition of the lipid fraction of the cell membrane is the common underlying factor. This would produce many of the reported perturbations of cell membrane properties and function, not all of which relate directly to the development of hypertension, but which act as markers for the underlying abnormality. However, functions such as phosphoinositol turnover, calcium binding and Ca2+,Mg2+-ATPase dependent calcium efflux, which are influenced by the lipid composition of the membrane, provide a possible link between the membrane disturbance, intracellular calcium, vascular smooth muscle contraction and blood pressure. Alteration in the lipid content of the cell membrane not only provides an explanation for the variability in the ion transport abnormalities between populations but perhaps also for some of the variability in blood pressure within a single population. It also provides a potential means of influencing blood pressure by dietary intervention.