Participation of endogenous catecholamines in the regulation of left ventricular mass in progeny of hypertensive parents.

To investigate whether adrenergic activity is a determinant of left ventricular hypertrophy in human hypertension, in each of 10 normotensive subjects with two hypertensive parents we have examined the relationship between changes in echocardiographic parameters of left ventricular anatomy and those in circulating catecholamine levels induced by three, 3 week periods of different sodium and potassium intakes. A high sodium-normal potassium regimen induced a significant reduction in upright plasma norepinephrine (from 599 +/- 89 to 379 +/- 45 pg/ml, p less than .01) and in posterior wall (PWT) and interventricular septal (IVST) thickness, as well as in the left ventricular mass index (LVMi). Changes in upright plasma norepinephrine concentrations correlated with those in IVST (r = .822, p less than .01) and in LVMi (r = .833, p less than .01). A low sodium-normal potassium diet resulted in increases in supine and upright plasma norepinephrine levels (from 356 +/- 44 to 488 +/- 89 pg/ml, p less than .001; and from 565 +/- 42 to 744 +/- 33 pg/ml, p less than .01) as well as increases in IVST and LVMi (from 97 +/- 7 to 107 +/- 7 g/m2, p less than .001). The changes in norepinephrine levels in supine and upright subjects correlated with changes in IVST (r = .836, p less than .01 and r = .796, p less than .01) and in LVMi (r = .931, p less than .001 and r = .947, p less than .001). No significant change in plasma catecholamine concentrations or in PWT, IVST, or LVMi was detected after a low sodium-high potassium regimen.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)