[Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, blood volume, serum uric acid and urinary excretion of prostaglandins and kallikrein in the arterial hypertension induced by pregnancy].

The plasma renin activity (PRA), plasma volume (PV), urinary excretion of Kallikrein (UK) and PGE2, PGF2 alpha, 6-keto PGF1 alpha and TXB2 were measured in 24 ambulant patients without treatment on normal sodium diets with pregnancy-induced hypertension (HT) (diastolic BP greater than or equal to 90 mmHg, appearing after 20 weeks' pregnancy and absent 2 months after delivery). The UK was measured by an esterase technique, prostaglandins by radioimmunological assay and PV by dye dilution (Evans blue). Two subgroups of patients were identified according to the evolution of their blood pressure at rest at home; the first (7 patients) with labile HT, and the second (14 patients) with permanent HT. The PRA was significantly lower (p less than 0,001) in patients with permanent compared to labile hypertension (4,7 +/- 0,3 compared to 12,2 +/- 0,8 ng/ml/h) and compared to a control group of normotensive pregnant women (6,5 +/- 0,5). The PV, expressed as a percentage of the theoretical volume with respect to the stage of pregnancy and body surface area was low in both groups. In permanent HT: 1) there was no correlation between PV and PRA, 2) a positive correlation between UK and urinary 6-keto PGF1 alpha (r = 0,62; p less than 0,001) and PGE2 (r = -0,51, p less than 0,05). Discriminative linear analysis showed that urinary 6-keto PGF1 alpha was mainly related to PRA and to a lesser degree to UK.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)