Long term spironolactone and the adrenal cortex in essential hypertension.

Abstract

In view of recent evidence that spironolactone may inhibit synthesis of corticosteroids by a direct effect on the adrenal cortex, adrenocortical function was studied in eight patients with essential hypertension who had been treated with spironolactone from 3 months to 14 years. Their 24 h renal excretion of adrenocorticoid metabolites and the responses of cortisol, aldosterone and 18-hydroxy-11 -deoxycorticosterone (18-OH-DOC) to an incremental infusion of tetracosactrin (1-24 ACTH) were compared with those in eight patients with recently diagnosed essential hypertension who had received no spironolactone. The spironolactone-treated group had a significantly higher excretion of aldosterone,..