Peripheral benzodiazepine receptors in lymphocytes of essential hypertensive patients

Particular psychological traits and abnormal reactivity to stress have been described in hypertensive patients. We investigated modifications of peripheral benzodiazepine receptors (PBR) in mononuclear blood cells of patients with essential hypertension, as possible neurochemical markers of these traits. PBR densities and affinity were evaluated in 10 hypertensive patients and 10 controls. No alteration of receptor density and affinity was observed in our patients, characterized by a normal renin-angiotensin system. PBR do not seem implicated in this type of hypertension, but could be involved in the pathogenesis of high-renin hypertension, as suggested by studies in animal models.