To determine the role of dietary sodium intake in the reduction in beta-adrenergic sensitivity in hypertension, lymphocyte beta-receptors from 8 borderline hypertensive and 16 normotensive subjects were studied after 5 d on a high sodium diet (400 meq/d) and also following a low sodium diet (10 meq/d). During the high sodium diet, lymphocyte beta-receptor-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity, expressed as the relative increase over basal levels stimulated by the beta-agonist isoproterenol, was significantly (P less than 0.025) decreased in hypertensive (24 +/- 5%, mean +/- SE) compared with normotensive (42 +/- 4%) subjects. Neither beta-receptor density nor the proportion of nonsequestered beta-receptors differed between groups. A low sodium diet significantly increased beta-receptor-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in hypertensives (low sodium, 51 +/- 7%; high sodium, 24 +/- 5%, P less than 0.025) to a level not different than that of normotensives (46 +/- 5%). Thus, reduced lymphocyte beta-receptor responsiveness in hypertensive subjects is not due to beta-receptor sequestration and is corrected on a low sodium diet. Dietary sodium may be an important factor in the beta-receptor defect in early hypertension.
R D Feldman, W J Lawton, W L McArdle
The Editorial Board will only consider comments that are deemed relevant and of interest to readers. The Journal will not post data that have not been subjected to peer review; or a comment that is essentially a reiteration of another comment.