[The renin-angiotensin system in patients with neurasthenia with normal and decreased arterial blood pressure].

Baseline activity of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and its reactance (active orthostatic transition) were compared in 36 healthy women, 22 neurasthenic normotensive female patients and 22 female patients with borderline hypotension aged about 46 years. In normotensive patients the baseline RAS activity tended to be lower that was not related to juxtaglomerular exhaustion, as manifested by normal orthostatic RAS responses. In hypotensive patients RAS activation had apparently compensatory nature. In neurotic patients, hypotension was unrelated to weakening of the RAS. The lack in RAS activation in chronic emotional stress at the stage of cortical functions decompensation (neurasthenia) is quite different from RAS response to acute emotional stress which is reportedly increasing the RAS activity.