Through its classic effects on sodium and potassium homeostasis, aldosterone, when produced in excess, is associated with the development of hypertension and hence with higher cardiovascular and renal risk. In recent years, experimental and epidemiologic data have suggested that aldosterone also may be linked to high cardiovascular risk independently of ...

BACKGROUND: For some hypertensive patients, conventional blockade of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers does not adequately protect against target organ damage. This may be particularly true for hypertensive patients with obesity, a condition often associated with elevated aldosterone levels. METHODS: We conducted a ...

1. Total body sodium (TBS) is known as major determinant of arterial blood pressure (ABP) when TBS is increased, but little is known about ABP control following a deficit in TBS. The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) controls ABP by controlling TBS via the Na-retaining effects of angiotensin (Ang) II and aldosterone, ...

Cortisol and aldosterone have the same in vitro affinity for the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), although in vivo only aldosterone acts as a physiologic agonist of the MR, despite circulating levels of cortisol in humans and corticosterone in rodents being three orders of magnitude higher than aldosterone levels. In mineralocorticoid target ...

Resistant hypertension is a common medical problem. It carries a significantly increased risk of end-organ damage and cardiovascular events compared with more easily controlled hypertension. Resistant hypertension is most often related to isolated systolic hypertension and is characterized by aldosterone excess and increased intravascular volume. Its diagnosis requires the exclusion ...

Eplerenone, a selective aldosterone blocker, has become clinically available in Japan since 2007. It has been reported that eplerenone has a potential antihypertensive effect, with a profile slightly different from that of spironolactone, and has fewer adverse reactions, suggesting that it may become a first-line treatment for hypertension. However, clinical ...

Aldosterone infusion results in left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and hypertension and may involve profibrotic and proinflammatory mechanisms. In turn, hypertension is the major cause of diastolic heart failure (HF). Adiponectin, an adipose-derived plasma protein, exerts antiinflammatory and anti-hypertrophic effects and is implicated in the development of hypertension and systolic HF. ...

Knockout (KO) of IL-6 has been shown to attenuate ANG II hypertension, and mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) have been reported to contribute to the increase in IL-6 during acute ANG II infusion. This study determined whether that MR action is sustained with chronic ANG II infusion and whether it plays a ...

BACKGROUND: Two variants of the CYP2C9 gene, CYP2C9*2 and CYP2C9*3, have been indicated to have impaired enzyme function, and thus suspected to reduce the formation of the active metabolite of losartan. Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are also involved in eicosanoid biosynthesis and regulation of blood pressure (BP) and sodium homeostasis. ...

It is now widely recognized that primary aldosteronism (PA) is much more common than previously thought, accounting for up to 5-10% of hypertensives, and that aldosterone excess has adverse cardiovascular consequences that go above and beyond hypertension development. These findings have precipitated a marked resurgence of research activity, most of ...

BACKGROUND: Autonomous secretion of aldosterone in patients with primary aldosteronism increases glomerular filtration rate and causes kidney damage. The influence of a mild decrease in kidney function on residual hypertension after adrenalectomy is unexplored. STUDY DESIGN: Nonconcurrent prospective study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: The study was based on the Taiwan Primary ...

Hypertension-induced diastolic heart failure accounts for a large proportion of all heart failure presentations. Hypertension also induces left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy. Fixed-dose isosorbide dinitrate/hydralazine (HISDN) decreased mortality in human systolic heart failure but it is unknown whether it improves maladaptive myocardial remodeling. We sought to test the hypothesis that chronic ...

INTRODUCTION: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is caused by autonomous hypersecretion of aldosterone from the adrenal cortex, classically from an adenoma, resulting in sodium and water retention, hypokalaemia and raised blood pressure. The sodium and water retention causes suppression of renin release. The possible cardiac sequelae of aldosterone excess are encountered primarily ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Resistant hypertension is found in an important and rapidly growing subset of the hypertensive population, and data characterizing this group of patients are limited. The purpose of this review is to present the latest evidence on resistant hypertension, its risk factors, patient characteristics, and approach to diagnosis. ...

The prevalence of heart failure (HF) is high and still on the rise. In 2004, an estimated 5.2 million adults in the United States carried the diagnosis of HF with a mortality rate of >19%. The incidence of HF is higher in individuals 65 years or older. As the US ...

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most frequent endocrine form of secondary hypertension. The recognition of this disease has dramatically increased with the widespread use of a screening test in most hypertensive patients, including those who are normokalemic. Interest in PA has grown since the demonstration that aldosterone has deleterious effects ...

Adrenal venous sampling (AVS) remains controversial in the management of primary aldosteronism. Retrospective chart review was conducted at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania from July 2001 to September 2007. A total of 113 patients underwent AVS, 16 patients were excluded as records were unavailable. Among 97 remaining patients, ...

Aldosterone excess or "escape" can occur after treatment with medications that block the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system or in undiagnosed primary aldosteronism. Spironolactone is thought to be an important addition to resistant hypertension (RH) treatment. In this study, resistant (RH) and controlled (CH) hypertensives and normotensive patients were submitted to echocardiography, flow-mediated ...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to examine blood pressure and biochemical responses to unilateral adrenalectomy in patients with bilateral primary aldosteronism (PA) and identify predictive parameters. CONTEXT: PA considered due to bilateral autonomous production of aldosterone is usually treated medically. Unilateral adrenalectomy has been considered ineffective. Because quality ...

Primary aldosteronism is the most common cause of secondary hypertension, accounting for about 10% of all forms of high blood pressure. Life-time pharmacological therapy is the treatment of choice for primary aldosteronism due to idiopathic adrenal hyperplasia (IHA), while adrenalectomy is effective in curing most patients with an aldosterone producing ...

The role of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) in hypertension has since long been recognized and aldosterone has been acknowledged as one of the key hormones in the pathophysiology, not only in primary aldosteronism but also in essential hypertension and drug-resistant hypertension. Aldosterone-receptor antagonists (ARAs) are increasingly used in patients with ...

OBJECTIVE: Primary aldosteronism (PA) due to aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) is the most common curable form of secondary hypertension. DESIGN: In order to evaluate blood pressure outcome after adrenalectomy for APA and to identify new favorable prognostic factors, data from 42 consecutive APA patients who underwent adrenalectomy were collected from 2005 ...

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is a secondary hypertension characterized by autonomous aldosterone hypersecretion from adrenocortical adenoma and/or hyperplasia. Recently it has been suggested that aldosterone excess is directly involved in the development of cardiovascular injury in PA independent of its hypertensive effect. The present study was designed to examine the relationship ...

Primary hyperaldosteronism is only rarely caused by unilateral adrenal hyperplasia. A 73-year-old hypertensive Greek man (on 10 mg amlodipine for the last ten years) presented in the emergency department with severe muscle weakness of all limbs. The initial physical and laboratory examination revealed normal blood pressure, muscle weakness, severe hypokalemia, ...

Resistant hypertension is defined as blood pressure that remains uncontrolled in spite of >or= 3 antihypertensive medications at effective doses, ideally including a diuretic. Although exact prevalence is unknown, clinical trials suggest that 20% to 30% of study participants are resistant. Hyperaldosteronism, obesity, refractory volume expansion, and obstructive sleep apnea ...

Aldosterone and its receptor, the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), play a key role in the regulation of reno-cardiovascular function as well as in the regulation of normal and abnormal reno-cardiovascular function, which are responsible for the variety of its functional responses. The underlying mechanisms are of genomic and nongenotropic nature. Prevention ...

Aldosterone is produced not only in the adrenal gland but also in other tissues, including the brain, where it plays an important role in the control of blood pressure and water and electrolyte homeostasis. Aldosterone has also been demonstrated to be a major factor in target organ damage independent of ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess blood pressure outcome in patients with primary aldosteronism, who were operated on the basis of a unilateral adenoma detected by computed tomography or a lateralized aldosterone hypersecretion detected by adrenal venous sampling, and to analyze the hormonal and nonhormonal factors associated with the outcome. METHODS: A retrospective ...

OBJECTIVE: In randomized clinical trials, aldosterone antagonists have been shown to reduce mortality and morbidity in heart failure (HF). The aim of the present study was to examine the risk-benefit profile of aldosterone antagonists in routine clinical practice. METHODS: A retrospective analysis, extending over a 1-year period, of the clinical, ...

BACKGROUND: A 51-year-old woman was referred to the Hypertension Clinic of L'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec Hospital, University of Québec Hospital Centre, with hypertension. Her hypertension had been evolving for approximately 30 years and was refractory to maximum doses of four antihypertensive agents. Routine blood testing revealed mild hypokalemia. INVESTIGATIONS: Physical examination, ...

BackgroundAldosterone has been shown to substantially contribute to the accumulation of different types of collagen fibers and growth factors in the arterial wall, which increase wall stiffness. We previously showed that arterial wall stiffness is increased in primary aldosteronism (PA) independently of concomitant hypertension. This study was aimed at assessing ...

This review describes the therapeutic approach of endocrine arterial hypertension in clinical practice. In mineralocorticoid-related hypertension, adrenalectomy is the treatment of choice for aldosterone-producing adenomas and monolateral primary aldosteronism, whereas pharmacologic blood pressure (BP) control is indicated for the other forms of primary aldosteronism such as bilateral adrenal hyperplasia. Spironolactone ...

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that hypertensive patients with raised aldosterone-to-renin ratio (ARR) are specifically sensitive to mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs). We have previously shown that patients with an elevated ARR are relatively frequent in the setting of primary care. We therefore designed an interventional study to ascertain whether primary ...

The field of primary aldosteronism (PA) and aldosterone-related hypertension has undergone rapid evolution. From a relatively rare curiosity PA has become a common problem particularly in selected hypertensive populations. Patients with PA and aldosterone-related hypertension appear to be at higher cardiovascular and renal risk than comparable patients with essential hypertension ...

OBJECTIVE: It is unknown why some patients with biochemical evidence of primary aldosteronism (PA) do not develop hypertension. We aimed to compare clinical and biochemical characteristics of normotensive and hypertensive patients with PA. DESIGN AND PATIENTS: Retrospective comparison of 10 normotensive and 168 hypertensive patients with PA for office or ...

Secondary hypertension is common in clinical practice if a broad definition is applied. Various patterns of hypertension exist in the patient with an endocrine source of their disease, including new-onset hypertension in a previously normotensive individual, a loss of blood pressure control in a patient with previously well-controlled blood pressure, ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) with torcetrapib in humans increases plasma high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels but is associated with increased blood pressure. In a phase 3 clinical study, evaluating the effects of torcetrapib in atherosclerosis, there was an excess of deaths and adverse ...

Compared with substantial clinical research on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), much less is known about the importance of the sympathetic nervous system as a therapeutic target to slow the initiation and progression of human hypertension. Using microelectrode recordings of sympathetic activity and radiotracer measurements of regional norepinephrine spillover in hypertensive ...

Plasma aldosterone and renin levels have been associated with blood pressure increase and 3-4 year incidence of hypertension in a middle-aged North American community in Framingham. To confirm these findings in a different population, a nested case-control study was performed in a national sample of 1984 French non-hypertensive volunteers aged ...

Since the introduction of the aldosterone-to-renin ratio (ARR ) as a screening tool for primary aldosteronism (PA), there has been a marked increase in the reported prevalence of this condition among hypertensive subjects. A meta-analysis from the literature shows a PA prevalence of almost 8% among hypertensive patients, with a ...

OBJECTIVE: To report an unusual presentation of pheochromocytoma along with challenges in diagnosis and management. METHODS: We report a clinical case history and describe diagnostic methods and pitfalls. The preoperative medical preparation in a normotensive patient is described. RESULTS: A 33-year-old man fell off a ladder, resulting in C6 paraplegia. ...

1. It is currently assumed that translational research goes from benchtop to bedside; that aldosterone elevates blood pressure via its effects on salt and water homeostasis; that mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) and glucocorticoid receptors (GR) share a common immediate ancestor; and that aldosterone plays a deleterious role in essential hypertension and ...

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Aldosterone antagonism improves endothelial function (and reduces deaths) in chronic heart failure. It is not known whether similar effects occur in other high-risk groups such as patients with diabetes and hypertension. We therefore assessed the full effects of aldosterone blockade in poorly controlled hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes, ...

Remodeling of the resistance arteries is a hallmark of arterial hypertension and predicts cardiovascular events, but it was unknown whether it could also predict the blood pressure response to adrenalectomy of patients with an aldosterone-producing adenoma. Therefore, we investigated the outcome of adrenalectomy as a function of vascular remodeling in ...

For many years primary aldosteronism was considered a relatively benign form of hypertension. This assumption reflects the primacy accorded to elevated levels of angiotensin in terms of deleterious cardiovascular effects, and the fact that in primary aldosteronism renin and angiotensin levels are low. We now know that primary aldosteronism causes ...

Normotensive subjects with family history of hypertension (FHT) have been reported to have increased left ventricular mass index and reduced ventricular compliance. Of interest is whether blood pressure variability (BPV), which has been associated with target organ damage, is then part of this complex inherited syndrome? The objectives of this ...

Salt-sensitive hypertension can be caused through abnormalities related to sodium and body fluid homeostasis; renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAAS) plays a key role in this regard. The molecular basis of the purported antihypertensive benefits of some plant-derived compounds such as quercetin is still lacking. To this end, we investigated RAAS in the Dahl ...

Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) chronicles the cumulative burden of oxidative stress and inflammation over a life course. Activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is associated with increased oxidative stress and inflammation. Therefore, LTL may be related to circulating biomarkers of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. We evaluated the cross-sectional relations of LTL (dependent ...

BACKGROUND: Experimental and human studies demonstrate that long-term exposure to elevated aldosterone levels results in cardiac and vascular damage. METHODS: We investigated long-term cardiovascular outcomes in patients with primary aldosteronism after surgical or medical treatment. Fifty-four patients with or without evidence of adrenal adenomas were prospectively followed up for a ...

Aldosterone might affect arterial stiffening, in both the short- and long-term. We investigated a possible association between excess aldosterone, reflected by an increased aldosterone : renin ratio (ARR) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) in young healthy adults. In a single-centre study, 60 subjects were evaluated for lipid profile, glucose, hs-CRP, ...