Objective: To investigate the distribution characteristics of some common and trace elements in both serum and lymphocyte in patients with essential hypertension and to analyse their possible role in the pathogenesis of hypertension.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 102 hypertensive patients matched with equal number of normotensive subjects by sex, age, and hypertensive family history; all of them were randomly selected from the same community. Both intralymphocytic and serum concentrations of some relevant elements including Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Zn2+, Cu2+ and P were measured for all studied subjects, using the inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICPS).
Results: 1. Both intralymphocytic and serum concentrations of Na+ (P = 0.009, 0.004 respectively), and Ca2+ (P = 0.001, 0.049 respectively) in hypertensive group were significantly higher than those in the normotensives. 2. Stepwise regression analysis disclosed that systolic and diastolic blood pressure had significant correlation with age, serum Na+/K+ ratio and intralymphocytic Ca2+, Mg2+ concentrations (P < 0.001 for both). 3. According to hypertensive family history, the method of multiple variance analysis had been employed for 4 subgroups and the results revealed that the concentrations of serum Ca2+ and lymphocytic Na+ were significantly higher in hypertensives with or without family history than in normotensives without family history. Furthermore, intralymphocytic Na+ concentration was significantly higher in normotensives with positive family history than that in normotensives without family history.
Conclusion: The serum and intralymphocytic distribution characteristics of elements in hypertensive patients compared with normotensive controls suggested that there might exist certain defects of the ion-transporting system on cell membrane which might be genetically linked.