Renin dependency of blood-pressure. Analysis by angiotensin II antagonist P113 in hypertensive patients treated with salt depletion and propranolol.

The effect of infusion of the angiotensin II antagonist P113 on blood-pressure (B.P.) has been studied in 10 patients with various forms of hypertension under four different conditions: before and after salt depletion and with or without propranolol treatment. The fall in B.P. after P113 infusion significantly correlated with log P.R.A. (plasma-renin activity), irrespective of diagnosis or treatment. P113 infusion caused a consistent fall in B.P. only after sodium depletion. The changes in B.P. after P113 infusion and those induced by propranolol correlated only during sodium depletion, when P.R.A. values rose. It is concluded that sodium depletion induced "renin dependency" of B.P. in all patients. The decrease in B.P. renin dependency after propranolol therapy suggests that suppression of P.R.A. is one of the antihypertensive mechanisms underlying the action of this drug.