An apraisal of the role of aldosterone and the sympathetic nervous system in essential hypertension.

Of the various hypertensive disorders in which mineralocorticoid hormones are involved mainly those are reviewed in which, apart from aldosterone, hyporeactivity of the adrenergic nervous system may play a permissive role. The simultaneous occurrence and extent of participation of these two factors in essential hypertension are being appreciated increasingly. Their share in the mosaic of hypertension may add to the accumulating knowledge of this disease entity. In exploring the underlying mechanisms of hypertension common regulatory pathways involving aldosterone and the adrenergic nervous system may lead to new aethiopathogenetic insights.