Dissociation between renin and arterial pressure responses to beta-adrenergic blockade in human essential hypertension.

Studies were carried out in 69 patients with essential hypertension to examine the relationship between changes in plasma renin activity (PRA) and arterial pressure (BP) in response to a beta-adrenergic blocking agent, propranolol. PRA had no consistent relationship with BP during treatment, either in patients receiving propranolol alone (r = 0.12) or in those receiving a combination of diuretics and propranolol (r = 0.18). Furthermore, long-term beta-adrenergic blockade failed to inhibit increases of PRA induced by diuretics or rapid sodium depletion. These results indicate that (1) beta-adrenergic blockade can reduce BP by mechanisms other than PRA suppression; and (2) the beta-adrenergic nervous system is important, but not essential, for renin release.