Negative association between plasma aldosterone concentration/plasma renin activity and morning blood pressure surge in never-treated hypertensive patients

Morning blood pressure (BP) surge (MS) has been known to be a predictor of cardiovascular events. Currently, few studies have evaluated the underlying mechanism underlying MS, which may include neurohormonal factors and the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS). This study aimed to examine plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) and plasma renin activity (PRA) and BP parameters with or without MS in never-treated subjects with essential hypertension. This cross-sectional study included a total of 261 patients (mean age: 48.8 years; 60.5% male) with never-treated essential hypertension who were registered in a working group at The Catholic University of Korea. The patients were divided into the MS group, which was defined as having the highest quartile of morning BP increase from sleep (>31?mmHg; n?=?66) and the non-MS group (≤31?mmHg; n?=?195). We collected 24-h ambulatory BP, pulse wave velocity, ankle brachial index, PAC and PRA from all patients. The measured PAC and PRA were lower in the MS group than in the non-MS group (PAC: 9.0?±?5.4?ng/dl versus 12.2?±?8.7?ng/dl, p?p?=?0.002). The MS group had greater variations in daytime, nighttime and 24-h systolic blood pressure (SBPs) than the non-MS group (24-h SBP: 15.6?±?4.4?mm Hg for the non-MS group and 18.9?±?4.9?mmHg for the MS group; p?