Ambulatory blood pressure changes in the menstrual cycle of hypertensive women. Significance of plasma renin activity values.

Blood pressure (BP) changes during the menstrual cycle (MC) have not been studied in hypertensive women in relationship to changes in sex hormone levels and plasma renin activity (PRA). We therefore carried out 24 h ambulatory BP recordings and hormonal measurements in 34 hypertensive and 27 matched normotensive women during the follicular ovulatory and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. Plasma renin activity was similar in the two groups and rose significantly during the luteal phase only in the hypertensives (P < .01). There were no differences in plasma estradiol or progesterone between the normotensives and hypertensives, but testosterone was higher in the hypertensives during the ovulatory (P < .01) and luteal (P < .001) phases. Blood pressure did not change in the normotensives throughout the cycle, but it increased in the hypertensives during ovulation (P < .01). When patients were divided according to mean menstrual cycle PRA, only those with relatively low PRA (< 2 ng/mL/h) had a significant BP rise during ovulation and it primarily occurred at night (P < .05). The results demonstrate that premenopausal hypertensive women have increased testosterone during ovulation and increased testosterone and PRA during the luteal phase of the cycle. Like normotensives, hypertensives with relatively high PRA exhibit no change in BP during the cycle, whereas those with relatively low PRA have a nighttime increase in BP during ovulation.