Low sodium intake corrects abnormality in beta-receptor-mediated arterial vasodilation in patients with hypertension: correlation with beta-receptor function in vitro.

To determine the contribution of altered beta-receptor function in the vasculature to the increased peripheral vascular resistance seen in hypertension, the effects of intra-arterial infusions of isoproterenol and epinephrine on forearm blood flow were determined in 11 male normotensive subjects and 11 male hypertensive subjects during 10 and 250 mmol/day sodium diets. Increased sodium intake from 10 to 250 mmol produced contrasting effects in the hypertensive and normotensive subjects. In the hypertensive subjects, sensitivity to isoproterenol decreased when sodium intake increased (median effective dose increased from 39 [95% confidence limits, 30 to 50] to 70 [95% confidence limits, 42 to 116] ng/min, p less than 0.05). On the other hand, in the normotensive subjects increased sodium intake resulted in an increased sensitivity to isoproterenol induced vasodilation (median effective dose decreased from 52 [38 to 71] to 29 [22 to 38] ng/min, p less than 0.01). No change occurred in sensitivity to epinephrine or in the maximum vasodilatory response to ischemia during dietary changes. Changes in beta-receptors on lymphocyte membranes paralleled the changes seen in vascular sensitivity so that the proportion of receptors exhibiting high affinity for agonists, a reflection of receptor adenylate cyclase coupling, decreased in the hypertensive subjects from 38.0% +/- 3.8% when they were receiving 10 mmol/day sodium to 29.6% +/- 2.7% when they were receiving 250 mmol/day sodium (p less than 0.01). However, the proportion increased from 32.4% +/- 3.7% for normotensive subjects receiving 10 mmol/day sodium to 47.1% +/- 7.8% for normotensive subjects receiving 250 mmol/day sodium (p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)