The effect of isoprenaline on plasma renin activity in man: a dose-response curve

Four normal subjects on a free sodium intake received intravenous isoprenaline in doses of 2, 4, 8 and 16 microgram over 2 min. Three of the subjects received a second infusion of 8 microgram. The rate of renin release indexed by changes in plasma renin activity increased in all subjects at each dose level. The mean peak levels of plasma renin were 9%, 29% and 77% above the mean control levels at doses of 2, 4 and 8 microgram respectively. The response of 16 microgram was no different from that seen with 8 microgram. The renin response obtained at 8 microgram was highly reproducible such that the coefficient of variation for duplicate estimations of plasma renin (twelve duplicates) ranged from 1.7 to 4%.