[Nature of the reaction of blood plasma steroid hormones in hypertension to various types of stimulation].

Fifteen healthy persons and 31 patients with essential hypertension whose ages ranged from 18 to 45 were examined. The basal level of three steroid hormones (progesterone, aldosterone, and cortisol) in blood plasma and their level after loading (walking, furosemid and rest, furosemid and walking) were studied by the radioimmune method. It is shown that in comparison with healthy individuals, patients with essential hypertension are marked by a change in the ratio of the pressor (aldosterone, cortisol) to the depressor (progesterone) hormones in blood plasma during loading. In different types of loading, no direct correlation was found, on the whole, between the degree of the reactions of aldosterone and renin in healthy individuals and in patients with essential hypertension.