Hypertension and severe hyperreninemia in a young man

Article Figures & Data

TABLE 1

Effects of antihypertensive drug classes on plasma renin and aldosterone

Medication class	Effect on plasma renin	Effect on plasma aldosterone
Beta-blockers	Decrease	Moderate decrease
Central agonists (eg, clonidine, alpha-methyldopa)	Decrease	Moderate decrease
Potassium-wasting diuretics	Increase	No change or moderate increase
Potassium-sparing diuretics	Increase	Moderate increase
Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors	Increase	Moderate decrease
Angiotensin receptor blockers	Increase	Moderate decrease
Dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers	Moderate increase	No change or moderate increase
Renin inhibitors	Moderate decrease or increase^a	Moderate decrease

↵a Renin inhibitors lower plasma renin activity but raise plasma renin concentration.
Based on information in reference 6.

TABLE 2

Trend of plasma renin and aldosterone laboratory values in our patient

	Initial results while taking lisinopril and chlorthalidone	Rechecked 6 weeks later, with no medication changes	Rechecked after 4 weeks of verapamil monotherapy
Plasma renin concentration (reference range 4.2−52.2 pg/mL)	1,971 pg/mL	1,253 pg/mL	14.8 pg/mL
Plasma aldosterone concentration (< 35.3 ng/dL)	11.3 ng/dL	17.1 ng/dL	10.1 ng/dL