Effects of antihypertensive treatment on systolic blood pressure and renin in experimental hypertension in rats

The effects of pretreatment with hydralazine and alpha-methyldopa were assessed in rats made hypertensive by ligation of the left renal artery (LRA). Systolic blood pressure and peripheral renin activity (PRA) were measured 7 and 1 day before LRA and 2, 7 and 28 days after LRA. Systolic blood pressure increased 2 days after LRA in control and alpha-methyldopa-treated rats but not in the hydralazine-treated rats. Peripheral renin activity levels did not correlate with changes in systolic blood pressure. Peripheral renin activity first increased 7 days after LRA but decreased 28 days after LRA despite persistent hypertension in controls and alpha-methyldopa-treated rats. It is concluded that factors other than renin are involved in the initial and maintenance phases of this experimental model. In addition, hydralazine protects the rat with LRA from developing hypertension.

Different secretion patterns of active and inactive renin in man

1. In plasma samples from normal subjects and patients with untreated essential hypertension, the concentration of inactive renin (as measured after acidification) was on average 4-5 times higher than the concentration of active renin (as measured without acidification).2. Plasma angiotensin II concentration was correlated to active renin but not to inactive renin. 3. A hyperacute stimulation induced by infusion of saralasin resulted in a marked rise of active renin, whereas inactive renin remained unchanged. 4. An acute stimulation induced by frusemide and ambulation led to a considerable rise in active renin and a slight, but significant, rise of inactive renin. 5. Stimulation with oral thiazide over 5 days induced a seven-fold rise of active renin, with a doubling of inactive renin. Thiazide treatment for 3 months led to a four-fold rise of active renin and a three-fold rise of inactive renin. 6. There was no difference between the concentrations of inactive renin in systemic plasma, ipsilateral and contralateral renal venous plasma in 12 patients with renovascular hypertension, neither before nor after infusion of saralasin with the associated fall in blood pressure. 7. We conclude that the time constants pertinent to secretion or release of active and inactive renin in man are of different orders of magnitude.

Tonin--angiotensin II system in hypertension

1. A single intravenous administration of rabbit tonin antiserum into one-kidney one-clip hypertensive rats restored blood pressure to normal in seven out of ten animals. There was little change in blood pressure in two-kidney one-clip hypertensive, uninephrectomized or sham-operated rats. 2. Infusion of tonin in control rats did not modify arterial blood pressure. However, in indomethacin salt-treated rats a marked increase in arterial blood pressure was observed under tonin infusion. 3. Plasma tonin activity was significantly increased in human essential and renovascular hypertension. 4. These findings strongly suggest that tonin is important in the maintenance of high blood pressure. However, other factors (possibly prostaglandins and sodium) have to be modified in order to activate the tonin--angiotensin II system.

Control of enzymatically inactive renin in man under various pathological conditions: implications for the interpretation of renin measurements in peripheral and renal venous plasma

1. Human plasma contains two types of renin: one is active in its native form (active renin), the other has renin-like activity after exposure to low pH (inactive renin). Reactions of acid-activated plasma renin and kidney renin with either homologous or heterologous substrate showed identical Km values.

2. Peripheral venous values for active and inactive renin in essential hypertension (n = 22), renovascular hypertension (n = 14), primary aldosteronism (n = 12), adrenal insufficiency (n = 6) and control subjects (n = 13) were directly correlated. But the percentage of renin that was active varied widely.

3. After bilateral nephrectomy in 12 patients both active and inactive plasma renin fell, but did not completely disappear. Estimates of half-life in two patients were 30–80 min for active renin and 150–165 min for inactive renin.

4. Renal vein to peripheral vein ratios of active and inactive renin in ten patients with essential hypertension (19 determinations) ranged from 0·96 to 1·60 and from 0·68 to 1·44 respectively with mean values (±sem) of 1·21 ± 0·04 and 1·06 ± 0·05.

5. The renal vein to peripheral vein ratio of active renin on the affected side in 13 out of 17 patients with renovascular hypertension was above the range found in essential hypertension. Six of them also had an elevated ratio of inactive renin on that side, which indicated renal release of this form of renin into the circulation. But, in contrast to the renal vein to peripheral vein ratio of active renin, the mean value of the ratio of inactive renin on the affected side was not significantly higher than on the contralateral side. The results suggest a renal mechanism not only for controlling the total quantity of circulating renin but also for modulating its degree of activation.