Plasma prolactin, renin and catecholamines in young normotensive and borderline hypertensive subjects

It has been reported that patients with essential hypertension have high plasma prolactin levels and suggested that reduced central dopaminergic activity may be a factor in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension. This study examines the influence of posture on plasma prolactin, plasma catecholamines, plasma renin activity, blood pressure and heart rate in 24 patients with borderline hypertension (age 19 +/- 1 years) and 20 normotensive subjects matched for age and body mass index. Supine plasma prolactin levels were similar in both groups [borderline hypertension, 11.3 +/- 0.7 ng/ml; normotensive, 10.7 +/- 0.8 ng/ml (mean +/- s.e.m.)] and no increase in plasma prolactin was observed after 10 min standing in both groups. Normotensive and borderline hypertensive subjects had similar values for supine and upright plasma renin activity and plasma norepinephrine. There were no significant correlations between supine plasma prolactin and supine blood pressure, supine plasma renin activity or plasma norepinephrine when data from both normotensive and borderline hypertensive subjects were combined. These results may provide indirect evidence against the occurrence of reduced central dopaminergic activity in borderline hypertension.