Plasma renin activity and aldosterone concentration in the human newborn

Twenty-one healthy newborn infants whose mothers had normal pregnancies and deliveries were studied. Plasma renin activity (PRA) and plasma aldosterone concentration (PAldo) were measured by semimicro methods in cord blood and on the 6th day of life. PRA and PAldo were increased in cord blood compared with values previously found in healthy infants between 1 month and 1 year of age. There was a twofold reduction in both values by the 6th day. PRA and PAldo were positively correlated when cord blood and 6th-day values were considered as a whole, but no significant correlations were found between either cord blood PRA or cord blood PAldo and their respective values on the 6th day. The PRA and PAldo findings were not related to birthweight, the infant's sex, weight change, 6th-day urinary sodium, or blood pressure measurements. The type of milk feed did not influence PRA but PAldo was slightly greater in bottle-fed babies on the 6 day. These observations confirmed that the inverse relationship between PRA, PAldo, and age extends into the neonatal period but they suggest that the balance of factors controlling these variables at birth is different to that operating at the age of 6 days.