Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Vol 56, 87-92, Copyright © 1983 by Endocrine Society

ARTICLES

Suppression of adrenal mineralocorticoid production in prehypertensive young adult men

GP Guthrie Jr, TA Kotchen and JM Kotchen

We assessed the renin-aldosterone axis in response to treadmill exercise and adrenal steroidogenesis after graded ACTH infusions in two groups, each composed of nine young adult men from Bourbon County, Kentucky, from the upper and lower deciles of the blood pressure distribution. Those from the upper decile with relatively higher blood pressures, termed prehypertensive, had significantly lower plasma aldosterone and 18-hydroxycorticosterone concentrations after graded ACTH than those with relatively lower pressures, and had significantly lower urinary potassium excretions. Renin and aldosterone responses to exercise were also significantly blunted in the prehypertensive subjects. No differences were found in plasma cortisol, deoxycortisol, deoxycorticosterone, corticosterone, or dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, although dehydroepiandrosterone was higher at one infusion rate in prehypertensives. These findings suggest that the adrenal mineralocorticoid pathway and the renin-aldosterone axis are suppressed in prehypertensive young males perhaps as an appropriate feedback response to their higher blood pressures.

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