A study on dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in patients with essential hypertension.
Alterations in the concentration of plasma dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and cortisol in patients with essential hypertension (EH) were investigated. The subjects were 25 patients with EH: 7 of low plasma renin activity (PRA) group, 10 of normal PRA group and 8 of high PRA group; 7 normal subjects were used as the controls. Plasma DHEA-S and cortisol were measured before and after the following tests: (1) circadian rhythm (6:00, 16:00 and 24:00), (2) furosemide (0.7 mg/kg) test, (3) ACTH (12.5 IU/4 hr) infusion test, (4) dexamethasone (1.0 mg) test, (5) furosemide (0.7 mg/kg) test under dexamethasone (1.0 mg) treatment, (6) metopirone (1.5 g) test, (7) angiotensin II (8 ng/kg/min, 30 min) infusion test and (8) saline (1000 ml/hr) test. The alterations of the endogenous ACTH-adrenal hormone system as well as the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system induced by these tests did not cause significant changes of plasma levels of DHEA-S in the 3 groups with EH. However, significant enhancement of plasma DHEA-S was observed after both the administration of exogenous ACTH and angiotensin II. It is considered that the responsiveness of DHEA-S to ACTH may increase in the low and normal PRA groups and that the responsiveness of DHEA-S to angiotensin II may increase in the high PRA group. Based on these results, it is suggested that plasma DHEA-S hardly or only partially participates as a causal factor of EH.
D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D000328:Adult; D000804:Angiotensin II; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D005665:Furosemide; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012083:Renin / Q000097:blood
D000804:Angiotensin II; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D005665:Furosemide; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D012083:Renin; D006854:Hydrocortisone