Target organ damage and ambulatory blood pressure in stage I hypertension. The Hypertension and Ambulatory Recording Venetia Study.

According to recent international guidelines the decision on whether to treat young subjects during the early phase of hypertension should be based not only on their office blood pressure but also on their ambulatory blood pressure and whether target organ damage has occurred. Few data on the prevalence of hypertensive complications in young subjects with mild hypertension are available. In the Hypertension and Ambulatory Recording Venetia Study (HARVEST), a multicenter trial conducted in northeast Italy, the percentage of young borderline-to-mild hypertensive subjects with echocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy was 4.5% and the percentage with concentric remodeling was 4%. Clear differences in cardiac size and geometric adjustment to ambulatory systolic pressure between the two sexes were found. The impact of blood pressure on the walls of the left ventricle and on the left ventricular mass was remarkable in women but weak in men. The assessment of left ventricular systolic function confirmed that many young mild hypertensive subjects have an increased ejective performance. The left ventricular contractility evaluated by midwall measurement was, however, found to be depressed in 9.2% of the HARVEST participants. Their left ventricular diastolic function was similar to that of 50 normotensive controls. The prevalence of microalbuminuria [albumin excretion rate (AER) > 30 mg/24 h) was 6.1%, only slightly higher than that found by other authors among normotensive subjects and much lower than that observed among patients with more severe hypertension. For our stage I hypertensives, however, the AER was correlated to the 24 h blood pressure with high statistical significance, whereas we found no relationship between the AER and left ventricular mass index either for all of the subjects taken together or for the men and women considered separately. The results suggest that renal and cardiac involvement do not occur in parallel during the initial phase of hypertension.

Relationship of plasma renin activity with caffeine intake and physical training in mild hypertensive men. HARVEST Study Group.

UNLABELLED: To study the relationship between plasma renin activity (PRA) and coffee consumption, cigarette smoking, alcohol intake and physical activity habits. SETTING: The multicentre HARVEST trial, involving 17 Hospital Centres in Northeast Italy. SUBJECTS: 351 borderline to mild hypertensive men (mean age +/- SEM 22.7 +/- 0.47 years), never treated for hypertension. INTERVENTIONS: Office and 24-hour blood pressure measurement, supine and standing PRA levels, and urinary catecholamines output. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: PRA levels according to coffee intake and physical activity status. RESULTS: Coffee intake showed a major effect on PRA. Supine PRA levels were 40% higher in the subjects abstaining from coffee (n = 94) than in the coffee drinkers and was similar in the moderate (n = 223) and heavy (n = 34) drinkers. A weaker negative association was found between coffee use and PRA on standing. Office and whole-day blood pressure and heart rate, and urinary catecholamines did not differ according to coffee intake. Supine PRA was lower in the subjects performing regular physical activity than in the inactive subjects. Office and whole-day diastolic blood pressure and heart rate, and urinary norepinephrine were lower in the active than in the sedentary men. No relationship was found between PRA measured either in the supine or the upright posture and tobacco or alcohol use. In a multiple linear regression model supine PRA was negatively correlated with age, coffee consumption and physical activity habits. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic coffee intake and physical training showed an inverse relationship with PRA in mild hypertensive men, while tobacco and alcohol use were unrelated to PRA.

[The relationship between overweight, life style and casual and 24-hour pressures in a population of male subjects with mild hypertension. The results of the HARVEST study]. / Relazione tra sovrappeso, abitudini di vita e pressione casuale e delle 24 ore in una popolazione di soggetti di sesso maschile con ipertensione lieve. Risultati dello studio HARVEST.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To evaluate the relationship of coffee use, smoking, physical inactivity, alcohol intake and overweight with casual and ambulatory blood pressure in a large population of borderline to mild hypertensive subjects. METHODS: Six hundred and thirty men with a mean (+/- SE) age of 33 +/- 0.4 years (range = 18-45 years) and a mean office blood pressure of 146 +/- 0.4/94 +/- 0.2 mm Hg, participating in the multicentre HARVEST study, were divided into three categories according to: coffee consumption (0 cups, 1-3 cups, > 3 cups/day), number of cigarettes smoked per day (0, 1-10, 11-20), degree of physical activity (no activity, regular training, competitive activity), alcohol intake (no alcohol, < 50 g, > or = 50 g/day) and body mass index (tertiles). All patients underwent non invasive ambulatory blood pressure monitoring with either the A&D TM-2420 model 7 or the Spacelabs 90207 monitor. Moreover, 24-hour urine collection was made for epinephrine and norepinephrine assessment (n = 611). RESULTS: Twenty-four-hour systolic blood pressure was higher in the coffee drinkers than the nondrinkers (+2.6 mm Hg in the moderate drinkers). Instead, 24-hour diastolic blood pressure was mainly influenced by overweight (3.2 mm Hg difference between the low and high BMI tertiles) and physical inactivity (3.2 mm Hg difference between the sedentary men and the athletes). Generally, the association of the above factors was stronger with ambulatory than with office blood pressure, whereas alcohol intake was only related to office diastolic blood pressure. However, in a multivariate regression analysis alcohol use did not show an independent effect on either office or ambulatory blood pressure. Smoking showed a different effect on office and ambulatory blood pressure. In fact, office blood pressure was higher in the nonsmokers, while 24-hour blood pressure was higher in the smokers. Smoking, coffee and physical inactivity were associated with sympathetic overactivity, as documented by increased urinary catecholamines output. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study indicate that overweight and behavioural factors affect 24-hour blood pressure to a larger extent than office blood pressure does. This is likely to be due to their effect on the sympathetic nervous system activity, which would enhance the blood pressure response to daily life stressors.