Monoamine metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid during treatment of hypertension with prazosin.

Six hypertensive patients were treated with prazosin up to a final dose of 3-4.5 mg/day. There was a significant reduction of blood pressure. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of the major metabolites of noradrenaline, dopamine and serotonin were unchanged. This indicates that the antihypertensive effect is not mediated via central monoaminergic neurons as suggested by animal studies.