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Keywords:

Adult, Aldosterone, Blood Pressure, Captopril, Humans, Hypertension, Hypertension, Renal, Hypertension, Renovascular, Potassium, Proline, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems, Cardiovascular System & Cardiology, 1102 Cardiorespiratory Medicine and Haematology, Cardiovascular System & Hematology, 3201 Cardiovascular medicine and haematology

Abstract:

Plasma aldosterone concentration was measured in seven patients before and during long-term angiotensin II suppression with captopril. Plasma aldosterone decreased initially from 62 to 9 pg/ml (p less than 0.01) after 1 month of captopril administration. Thereafter, it began to increase and after 1 year reached a level of 163 pg/ml, which significantly (p less than 0.01) exceeded the pretreatment value. During long-term captopril therapy, plasma renin activity remained elevated and plasma angiotensin II concentration suppressed. The mechanism responsible for the late increase in plasma aldosterone during long-term angiotensin II suppression with captopril remains to be elucidated. Body weight decreased initially, parallel to plasma aldosterone increase, but after 6 months increased again to reach its pretreatment level after 1 year. Nevertheless a sizable and lasting hypotensive effect was observed in all patients.