Relationship between juxtaglomerular apparatus and plasma renin activity in human reno-vascular hypertension.

Juxtaglomerular cell count (JGCC) and juxtaglomerular activity (JA) on the fragments of the ischemic kidney and plasma renin activity (PRA) in peripheral venous blood were studied in 26 renovascular patients. In 11 cases PRA was also measured in renal venous blood. JGCC and JA values were always above normal range and both were significantly related to the PRA values in peripheral venous blood, while only JA was related to the PRA values in renal venous blood. These data indicate that in human renovascular hypertension the juxtaglomerular apparatus is hyperplastic and hypergranulated: the correlation between its morphological appearance and PRA seems to indicate that the renin-angiotensin system may be in some way involved in the genesis of hypertension.