The aim of the study was to evaluate serum endothelin and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) levels in 30 younger middle-aged men with primary arterial hypertension treated with nifedipine. Endothelin and ANP were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA). To improve the evaluation of the parameters investigated the hypertensive patients were subdivided into two groups: A (smokers) and B (non-smokers). A control group consisted of 30 healthy men with body weight within normal limits. The hypertensive patients received single-drug therapy with nifedipine in a dose of 10 mg t.i.d. during their hospital stay and on an outpatient basis. The study demonstrated a significant elevation in endothelin levels in the sera of non-smoking patients with essential arterial hypertension compared to controls. At 10 days and at 3 months of nifedipine treatment endothelin levels in both smokers and non-smokers decreased to the values observed in controls. Also, a correlation between 3-month nifedipine treatment and ANP levels was observed, but exclusively in the smoking group. ANP serum levels were found to decrease in patients treated with nifedipine compared to hypertensive smokers. ANP values in nifedipine-treated patients were significantly lower from those found in normotensive smokers. The effects observed might reflect the improved haemodynamic function of the heart achieved with the control of hypertension. The correlation was not observed in non-smokers treated with nifedipine as the ANP remained at the pre-treatment levels.

Keywords: primary hypertension, natriuretic peptide, Endothelin, Nifedipine