Significant difference in the effect of acute saline loading on plasma Na-K ATPase inhibitor and blood pressure between children and adults with essential hypertension.

Abstract

Twenty-one male children and 3 male adults with essential hypertension were infused with physiological saline solution (15 ml/kg/hr) for 1 hr after they had been supine for 90 min. The blood pressure and heart rate were monitored, and blood was taken twice before and after the infusion to measure the plasma Na-K ATPase inhibitor. After saline infusion, both the plasma Na-K ATPase inhibitor and blood pressure increased significantly in the hypertensive adults, and the number of Na pump sites decreased. However, such changes were not observed in the hypertensive children. These findings suggest that circulating Na-K ATPase inhibitor may not appear following acute saline infusion in hypertensive children unlike in hypertensive adults, and that the mechanisms regulating cell membrane sodium transport and high blood pressure may differ between hypertensive children and adults.