Differences in the presentation and evolution of primary aldosteronism in elderly (≥65 years) and young patients (<65 years)

Adrenal Vein Sampling for Primary Aldosteronism: Recommendations From the Australian and New Zealand Working Group

Adrenal vein sampling (AVS) is the current recommended procedure for identifying unilateral subtypes of primary aldosteronism (PA), which are amenable to surgery with the potential for cure. AVS is a technically challenging procedure usually undertaken by interventional radiologists at tertiary centres. However, there are numerous variations in AVS protocols relating to patient preparation, sampling techniques and interpretation which may impact the success of AVS and patient care. To reduce practice variations, improve the success rates of AVS and optimise patient outcomes, we established an Australian and New Zealand AVS Working Group and developed evidence-based expert consensus recommendations for the preparation, performance and interpretation of AVS. These recommendations can be used by all healthcare professionals in a multidisciplinary team who look after the diagnosis and management of PA.

Mineralocorticoid Receptor and Aldosterone: Interaction Between NR3C2 Genetic Variants, Sex, and Age in a Mixed Cohort

CONTEXT

Hypertension, a prevalent cardiovascular risk, often involves dysregulated aldosterone and its interaction with the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR). Experimental designs in animal models and human cohorts have demonstrated a sex and age dependency of aldosterone secretion that expands our pathophysiologic understanding.

OBJECTIVE

This study explores the genetic variation of NR3C2, which encodes MR, in relation to aldosterone, considering age, sex, and race.

METHODS

Incorporating 720 Caucasians and 145 Africans from the HyperPATH cohort, we investigated the impact of rs4835490, a single nucleotide risk allele variant, on aldosterone levels and vasculature.

RESULTS

Notably, a significant association between rs4835490 and plasma aldosterone under liberal salt conditions emerged in individuals of European ancestry (P = .0002). Homozygous carriers of the risk A allele exhibited elevated plasma aldosterone levels (AA = 8.1 ± .9 vs GG = 4.9 ± .5 ng/dL). Additionally, aldosterone activation through posture (P = .025) and urinary excretion (P = .0122) showed notable associations. Moreover, genetic interactions with race, sex, and age were observed. Caucasian females under 50 years displayed higher plasma aldosterone, urine aldosterone, and posture aldosterone with the AA genotype compared to females over 50 years, suggesting a potential connection with menopausal or estrogen influences. Interestingly, such age-dependent interactions were absent in the African cohort.

CONCLUSION

Our study highlights the significance of the NR3C2 genetic variation and its interplay with age, sex, and race in aldosterone activation. The findings point toward an estrogen-modulating effect on MR activation, particularly in women, underlining the role of aldosterone dysregulation in hypertension development. This insight advances our comprehension of hypertension's complexities and opens avenues for personalized interventions. Clinical Trial Registration Number: NCT03029806 (registered January 24, 2017).

Practical consensus for the treatment and follow-up of primary aldosteronism: a multidisciplinary consensus document

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most frequent cause of secondary hypertension and is associated with a higher cardiometabolic risk than essential hypertension. The aim of this consensus is to provide practical clinical recommendations for its surgical and medical treatment, pathology study and biochemical and clinical follow-up, as well as for the approach in special situations like advanced age, pregnancy and chronic kidney disease, from a multidisciplinary perspective, in a nominal group consensus approach of experts from the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (SEEN), Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC), Spanish Society of Nephrology (SEN), Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI), Spanish Radiology Society (SERAM), Spanish Society of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (SERVEI), Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine (SEQC(ML)), Spanish Society of Anatomic-Pathology and Spanish Association of Surgeons (AEC).

Screening and diagnosis of primary aldosteronism. Consensus document of all the Spanish Societies involved in the management of primary aldosteronism

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most frequent cause of secondary hypertension (HT), and is associated with a higher cardiometabolic risk than essential HT. However, PA remains underdiagnosed, probably due to several difficulties clinicians usually find in performing its diagnosis and subtype classification. The aim of this consensus is to provide practical recommendations focused on the prevalence and the diagnosis of PA and the clinical implications of aldosterone excess, from a multidisciplinary perspective, in a nominal group consensus approach by experts from the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (SEEN), Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC), Spanish Society of Nephrology (SEN), Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI), Spanish Radiology Society (SERAM), Spanish Society of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (SERVEI), Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine (SEQC(ML)), Spanish Society of Anatomic-Pathology, Spanish Association of Surgeons (AEC).

Effect of Obesity on Clinical Characteristics of Primary Aldosteronism Patients at Diagnosis and Postsurgical Response

CONTEXT

Patients with obesity have an overactivated renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) that is associated with essential hypertension. However, the influence of obesity in primary aldosteronism (PA) is unknown.

OBJECTIVE

We analyzed the effect of obesity on the characteristics of PA, and the association between obesity and RAAS components.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted of the Spanish PA Registry (SPAIN-ALDO Registry), which included patients with PA seen at 20 tertiary centers between 2018 and 2022. Differences between patients with and without obesity were analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 415 patients were included; 189 (45.5%) with obesity. Median age was 55 years (range, 47.3-65.2 years) and 240 (58.4%) were male. Compared to those without obesity, patients with obesity had higher rates of diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, obstructive apnea syndrome, left ventricular hypertrophy, prior cardiovascular events, higher means of systolic blood pressure, and required more antihypertensive drugs. Patients with PA and obesity also had higher values of serum glucose, glycated hemoglobin A1c, creatinine, uric acid, and triglycerides, and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Levels of blood aldosterone (PAC) and renin were similar between patients with and without obesity. Body mass index was not correlated with PAC nor renin. The rates of adrenal lesions on imaging studies, as well as the rates of unilateral disease assessed by adrenal vein sampling or I-6β-iodomethyl-19-norcholesterol scintigraphy, were similar between groups.

CONCLUSION

Obesity in PA patients involves a worse cardiometabolic profile, and need for more antihypertensive drugs but similar PAC and renin levels, and rates of adrenal lesions and lateral disease than patients without obesity. However, obesity implicates a lower rate of hypertension cure after adrenalectomy.

Effect of the interaction between the visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio and aldosterone on cardiac function in patients with primary aldosteronism

Primary aldosteronism is the most frequent secondary hypertensive disease and is characterized by an elevated risk for cardiovascular disease. The current standard treatments are adrenalectomy and/or administration of mineralocorticoid receptor blockers, both of which are effective at ameliorating hypertension via intervention for hyperaldosteronism. However, both of these approaches have side effects and contraindications, and mineralocorticoid receptor blockers also have limited preventive efficacy against cardiovascular events. Recently, in vitro experiments have shown that aldosterone regulation is closely related to abdominal fat accumulation and that there is crosstalk between aldosterone and visceral fat tissue accumulation. We previously reported that this interaction was clinically significant in renal dysfunction; however, its effects on the heart remain unclear. Here, we analyzed data from 49 patients with primary aldosteronism and 29 patients with essential hypertension to examine the potential effect of the interaction between the ratio of visceral-to-subcutaneous fat tissue volume and the plasma aldosterone concentration on echocardiographic indices, including the tissue Doppler-derived E/e' ratio. A significant interaction was found in patients with primary aldosteronism (p < 0.05), indicating that patients with the combination of a high plasma aldosterone concentration and high visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio show an increased E/e' ratio, which is a well-known risk factor for future cardiovascular events. Our results confirm the clinical importance of the interaction between aldosterone and abdominal fat tissue, suggesting that an improvement in the visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio may be synergistically and complementarily effective in reducing the elevated risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with primary aldosteronism when combined with conventional therapies for reducing aldosterone activity. A significant effect of the interaction between plasma aldosterone concentration and the visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio on the tissue Doppler-derived E/e' ratio in patients with primary aldosteronism.