Plasma Immunoreactive Endothelin-1 in Primary Hyperaldosteronism

This study evaluated the assessment of plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels in primary aldosteronism and its correlation with other vasoactive hormones such as renin, aldosterone, catecholamines, arginine-vasopressin, and atrial natriuretic peptide. Plasma ET-1 was measured in 12 patients with primary aldosteronism (five adenomas and seven primary hyperplasia) and in 15 normal subjects. No significant differences were found in plasma ET-1 between controls and hypertensive patients both in adenoma and primary adrenal hyperplasia (8.8 + 1.6 pg/mL v 6.2 + 1.4 pg/mL v 6.5 + 1.0 pg/mL, P = NS, respectively). Further, no significant correlations were found among ET-1 and vasoactive hormones. In conclusion, these findings show that there are no differences in ET-1 levels between primary aldosteronism patients and healthy subjects. Circulating ET-1 is not involved in the hypertension in primary aldosteronism.