Plasma norepinephrine, plasma renin activity, and congestive heart failure: Relations to survival and the effects of therapy in V-HeFT II

Abstract

Background. Congestive heart failure is a clinical syndrome characterized by neuroendocrine activation. Measurements of plasma norepinephrine and plasma renin activity were performed in the Vasodilator-Heart Failure Trial II (V-HeFT II) to characterize the effects of therapy on neuroendocrine activation and to examine the responses to therapy among patients with different degrees of activation. Methods and Results. The baseline median plasma norepinephrine value (n=743) was 490 pg/mL and the baseline median plasma renin activity (n=737) was 6.9 ng.mL -1 .hr -1 . Baseline plasma renin activity and plasma norepinephrine correlated poorly with each other (r=0.12), implying that these two neuroendocrine systems are being activated by separate processes