Acute Effects of Saralasin on Plasma Aldosterone in Different Pathophysiological Conditions

The effect of the angiotensin II analog, saralasin (l-sar-8-ala-angiotensinII), on plasma aldosterone (PA) and plasma cortisol was studied in human subjects with varying levels of stimulation of the renin system. In nine recumbent normal subjects on an ad libitum diet, saralasin (5.0 jti/kg-min for 25 min) significantly (P < 0.01) increased PA. This increase was abolished by furosemide and restored by the infusion of 2 liters 0.9% saline. For normal subjects there was a significant correlation between the saralasin-induced change in PA and the presaralasin' PRA (P < 0.001). Saralasin reduced PA in most normal subjects in whom the PRA was greater than 3.7 ng/mlh and the PA was significantly correlated to the increasingPRA (r = 0.66; P < 0.01). In normal subjects in whom the PRA was less than3.7 ng/ml-h, there was no correlation between PRA and PA, but in a small group (n= 6) whose PA was greater than 20 ng/dl, saralasin induced a fall in PA infour of them. In studies of patients with cirrhosis, most showed...