OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of monotherapy with the selective aldosterone blocker eplerenone in both black and white patients with hypertension. BACKGROUND Essential hypertension and cardiovascular-renal-target organ damage is more prevalent in black than white adults in the U.S. METHODS Black (n = 348) and white (n = 203) patients with...

Angiotensin II (Ang II) is one of the most potent vasoconstrictor substances, yet paradoxically, Ang II may dilate certain vascular beds via an undefined mechanism. Ang II-induced vasoconstriction is mediated by the AT(1) receptor, whereas the relative expression and functional importance of the AT(2) receptor in regulating vascular resistance and blood pressure are unknown. We now report that ...

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is well known to be associated with both an enhanced chemoreceptor reflex and an augmented cardiac "sympathetic afferent reflex" (CSAR). The augmentation of the CSAR may play an important role in the enhanced chemoreceptor reflex in the CHF state because the same central areas are involved in the sympathetic outputs of both reflexes. We determined whether chemical an...

OBJECTIVE To report a new manifestation of the rare connective tissue disorder arterial tortuosity syndrome in the absence of skin and soft-tissue abnormalities and with bilateral, giant fusiform intracranial aneurysms. DESIGN Case report. SETTING University teaching hospital. PATIENT A 67-year-old man with a history of hypertension presented to medical attention after a syncopal episode....

Angiotensin II (Ang II) is one of the most potent vasoconstrictor substances, yet paradoxically, Ang II may dilate certain vascular beds via an undefined mechanism. Ang II–induced vasoconstriction is mediated by the AT1 receptor, whereas the relative expression and functional importance of the AT2 receptor in regulating vascular resistance and blood pressure are unknown. We now report that Ang ...

Losartan, a selective angiotensin II (AII) type I receptor antagonist, may protect against myocardial stunning and arrhythmia in ischemia and reperfusion. To examine the cellular basis for these protective actions, we studied effects of losartan and AII on contractile and electrical activity of ventricular myocytes exposed to simulated ischemia and reperfusion. Ionic currents were measured with...