[Plasma mineralocorticoids--aldosterone and desoxycorticosterone-- in patients with"low-renin"arterial hypertension].

The plasma aldosterone (A) and desoxycorticosterone (DOCS) levels were measured in 10 patients with primary aldosteronism and in 2 subgroups with low-renin hypertensive disease (LRHD): (1) those with normal adrenal glands++ (n - 11) and (2) those with structural changes in the cortex (n - 11). The patients from Subgroup 1 showed the lowest basal A and DOCS levels (107.29 +/- 12.90 and 0.080 +/- 0.013 ng/ml, respectively) and low concentrations of the two hormones after stimulation of 4-hour walk (211.57 +/- 30.47 and 0.095 +/- 0.024 ng/mg, respectively). In the patients from Subgroup 2, the basal and 4-hour post-walk++ A and DOCS contents were increased in the cortex (basal 201.50 +/- 41.59 and 0.177 +/- 0.36 ng/mg and poststimulation 331.33 +/- 30.47 and 0.302 +/- 0.061 ng/ml, respectively). Some patients with primary aldosteronism displayed the same DOCS response to stimulation as did those with LRHD in the presence of structural cortical changes. Histological examination of operative biopsy specimens indicated that higher DOCS levels were associated with diffuse nodal hyperplasia of the zona fasciculata in the cortex. The results suggest that there may be a LRHD variant running with excessive DOCS secretion and related to pathogenetically related to hyperplasia of predominantly the zone fasciculata in the adrenal cortex.