title: [Raised plasma-prolactin levels in essential hypertension: index of reduced hypothalamic dopaminergic activity (author's transl)].
abstract: Serial measurements of plasma-prolactin concentration (HPr) and plasma-renin activity (PRA) at 30-min intervals were made in 19 male patients with essential hypertension and in 8 normotensive subjects. HPr was markedly higher in the hypertensive patients than in the normotensive controls. Patients with reduced plasma-renin activity and only slightly elevated HPr-levels showed lower urinary sodium excretion, but a more pronouced 24-h natriuretic response to i.v. furosemide than patients with normal renin and very high HPr-levels. Six patients were treated with the dopaminergic agonist bromocriptine. The drug induced a significant blood pressure reduction in five patients and normalised pressure in two patients. The data do not indicate a role for prolactin in sustaining hypertension via renal salt retaining mechanisms. It is suggested that the raised HPr-levels represent an index of altered central nervous function, characterized by reduced hypothalamic activity. The blood pressure-lowering effect of the dopaminergic agonist bromocriptine fits with the hypothesis that reduced hypothalamic dopaminergic activity might be a factor in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D001971:Bromocriptine / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005665:Furosemide / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009318:Natriuresis / Q000187:drug effects; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood*; D012083:Renin / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001971:Bromocriptine; D005665:Furosemide; D011388:Prolactin; D012083:Renin
vernacular_title: Erhöhte Plasma-Prolactin-Konzentration bei essentieller Hypertension: Index einer verminderten hypothalamischen dopaminergen Aktivität.