LONDON, August 17 (SPIS MedWire)The role of leptin in the pathogenesis of arterial hypertension has been supported by several recent studies. Adamczak and colleagues at the Silesian University School of Medicine, Poland, report their finding of a significant relationship between both leptinemia and plasma renin activity (PRA) in females with essential hypertension (EH). The team examined 43 patients with EH (23 females, mean age 39.0±1.8 years, mean BMI 26.8±0.6 kg/m2) who had stopped taking antihypertensive medication seven days before the study, and 32 healthy controls. Plasma leptin levels were measured after consumption of a 100-120 nmol/day Na diet; PRA was measured twice, after sodium intake and after sodium restriction. In the EH group the mean plasma leptin concentration was nonsignificantly higher than in the control group (14.0±2.0 vs 10.8±1.5 ng/ml). However, when the analysis was restricted to females there was a significant positive correlation between leptin...
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