Physiologic regulation of arterial pressure. An overview

Research of the past 30 years has produced information showing the close interrelationships of neural mechanisms, the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and salt balance as determinants of arterial pressure, both normal and elevated. Contemporary emphases are on central sites of neural regulation of arterial pressure, and an interesting sidelight of the conventional approaches is the possibility that the endorphin-enkephalin system may have a role in hypertension. Salt balance is critically important for people with salt-dependent hypertension; mechanisms of this dependency have not been defined but possible candidates are activation of the sympathetic nervous system, release of a natriuretic factor that causes vasoconstriction as well as salt loss, and renal-neural interactions.