Increased peripheral catecholamine release in patients with long-standing, untreated essential hypertension

Both arterial and venous plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline concentrations were elevated in 20 middle-aged men with long-standing, untreated essential hypertension compared to 19 normotensive control men (p less than 0.01). The mean a-v (arterial-venous) difference of adrenaline and v-a difference of noradrenaline were increased in the hypertensive (p less than 0.05) consistent with raised adrenal adrenaline release and release of noradrenaline from the peripheral vascular beds of the forearm.