Correlation of blood pressure in end-stage renal disease with platelet cytosolic free-calcium concentration.

The fluorescent probe Quin-2 showed the cytosolic free-calcium concentration in platelets to be elevated in 12 hypertensive hemodialysis patients, who were compared with 12 normotensive hemodialysis patients. There was a close correlation between the free-calcium level of platelets and mean arterial pressure (r = 0.88). Short-term antihypertensive treatment resulted in a reduction of free-calcium concentration and a concomitant fall in blood pressure. These results suggest an integrative contributory role for calcium in the pathophysiology of hypertension accompanying end-stage renal disease.