[Arterial hypertension: the role of the central nervous system. II. Experimental and clinical study (author's transl)].

Several models of experimental hypertension are described (neurogenic, mineralocorticoid, renovascular and genetic hypertension). An activation of the sympathetic nervous system is seen in these situations (increases in sympathetic nervous discharge, in the synthesis of noradrenaline and in the level of plasma catecholamines). This activation may be connected with biochemical abnormalities within the medulla which have been noticed for catecholamines and serotonin. These medullary abnormalities could themselves depend on abnormalities situated at higher levels (hypothalamus). The factors which determine the central problem and their mechanism of action are still hypothetical (e.g. the direct effect of sodium on the brain, the effect of stress and the environment as well as genetically determined biochemical abnormalities of the central nervous system). In the case of essential hypertension in man, available data are limited to the levels of plasma catecholamines which suggest an increased sympathetic activity of central origin when these levels are elevated.