Dietary salt, blood pressure and circulating levels of 1-O-hexadecyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine in patients with essential hypertension.

The effects of dietary salt on circulating levels of 1-O-hexadecyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (C16 PAF) in patients with essential hypertension were studied by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with negative ion chemical ionization. Circulating levels of C16 PAF in patients with essential hypertension (18.1 +/- 5.3 pg/ml, n = 16) were not changed compared with those in normotensive subjects (17.2 +/- 7.2 pg/ml, n = 14). Although changes in circulating levels of C16 PAF were small with changes in dietary salt, net changes in circulating C16 PAF levels significantly and positively correlated with net changes in mean arterial blood pressure (r = 0.47, P less than 0.05). Changes in C16 PAF levels also correlated with changes in creatinine clearance (r = 0.55, P less than 0.05). However, changes in C16 PAF levels did not correlate with changes in plasma sodium concentration, plasma chloride concentration and plasma volume. These results indicate that C16 PAF plays an antihypertensive role and this may be reflected as small changes in circulating levels of C16 PAF.