Peripheral adrenergic system and hypertension

Hypertension is a condition where adrenergic responsiveness, sympathetic ac tivity and adrenoceptors are somewhat altered. Many techniques are availabl e to assess human sympathetic nervous system activity. They each present li mitations and disadvantages. Characterization and subdivision of the alpha and beta -adrenoceptors, according to their localization and answer to diff erent agonists, was facilitated in recent years by the extensive use of pha rmacological and molecular biology techniques. Some adrenoceptor studies: were conducted on animal models, human tissues a nd peripheral blood cells to assess their changes in various forms and stag es of hypertension. Our group has pointed out that alpha (1)-adrenergic rec eptors expressed by human peripheral blood lymphocytes underwent changes of density in essential hypertensives, compared to normotensive control subje cts. The importance of these findings could provide an assessment of alpha (1)-peripheral receptors with possible future clinical implications in the pathophysiology and treatment of hypertension.