Aldosterone and left ventricular hypertrophy in Afro-Caribbean subjects with low renin hypertension.

Background: Activity of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is thought to play a major role in determining blood pressure (BP) and target organ damage such as left ventricular hypertrophy. In Afro-Caribbean subjects, however, hypertension tends to be more severe despite lower plasma renin activity. We investigated whether this might be due to a different relation between aldosterone and renin in Afro-Caribbean compared to white subjects.