Plasma osteopontin levels are higher in patients with primary aldosteronism than in patients with essential hypertension

Background: The incidence of cardiovascular events is higher in patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) than in patients with essential hypertension (EHT). Aldosterone has been shown to play an important role in the development of vascular inflammation and myocardial fibrosis in animal models. Elevated serum inflammatory cytokine is an independent cardiovascular risk factor in patients with EHT. In the present study, we compared levels of inflammatory cytokines between patients with PA and EHT. Methods: The study subjects were 15 patients with PA and 15 age-matched patients with EHT. Serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), and plasma osteopontin (OPN) levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Results: Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) did not differ between the PA and EHT patient groups. Levels of serum IL-6 (P =.563), TNF-alpha (P =.480), and hsCRP (P =.870) did not differ between the two groups. In contrast, plasma OPN levels in patients with PA were significantly higher than those in patients with EHT (P <.0001). There was no relationship between BP and plasma OPN levels in patients with PA. Conclusions: The present study showed that plasma OPN levels were higher in patients with PA than in patients with EHT.