RESUMO
Increasing evidence showed a link between arterial elasticity and stiffness and pulse pressure (PP), in which plasma aldosterone may play a role. The observational study aimed to explore the potential relations between plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) and PP in patients with hypertension. We evaluated the relation between PP and PAC in supine, seated, and upright positions in 195 patients with primary hypertension who underwent postural stimulation test. They were divided into 3 groups by tertiles of PP: PPâ≤â44 mm Hg (nâ=â70), 44 mm Hgâ<âPPâ≤â51 mm Hg (nâ=â63), and PPâ≥â51 mm Hg (nâ=â62). The PAC in different postures was compared, respectively. The results showed the following. First, segregated by tertiles of PP, serum Kâº, 24-hour systolic blood pressure, 24-hour diastolic blood pressure, sex, upright PAC, and seated PAC showed statistically significant differences in groups. Second, the PAC were significantly different in 3 levels of PP regardless of postures, the individuals with PPâ≥â51 mm Hg had the highest PAC. On contrast, the patients with PACâ>â12 ng/dL showed greater PP than those with PACâ≤â12 ng/dL. Third, weak associations between PP and upright (râ=â0.288, Pâ<â0.001), seated (râ=â0.265, Pâ<â0.001), and supine postures (râ=â0.191, Pâ=â0.008) were detected by simple correlation analysis. After corrected serum Kâº, age, and sex, the partial correlation coefficients did not change greatly. Fourth, the logistic regression model was constructed with PPâ≥â40 mm Hg or PPâ<â40 mm Hg as the dependent variable; the serum Kâº[ORâ=â0.043, 95% CI: 1.09(1.00-1.12)] and PAC [ORâ=â0.025, 95%CI: 0.35(0.13-0.88)] were included as significant contributing factors. The results showed that higher PAC was weakly, but significantly, correlated to greater PP regardless of different postures, suggesting that higher PAC may be a risk factor of reduced arterial elasticity in patients with hypertension.