Primary Aldosteronism in a Hispanic Cohort: Responses to Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonism and Remission in a Case

BACKGROUND Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the main cause of secondary arterial hypertension. In this study, we present the medical treatment of Hispanic patients with PA followed for up to 5 years, highlighting the complete cure with pharmacological treatment in one of our patients.METHODS We studied 32 PA patients, followed every 6 months after starting MRA. A clinical response was the normalization of blood pressure (BP) in the absence of other antihypertensive drugs. The biochemical response was considered with normalization of potassium and renin. Responses to treatment were compared using the defined daily dose (DDD). The effect of MRA was evaluated in vitro. The HAC15 cells were cultured and stimulated with aldosterone and spironolactone for 24-72 h, and the apoptotic cell death was measured.RESULTS At 12 months posttreatment with MRA, 68% of the patients had a total clinical response, and 67% had a total biochemical response. Response to MRA treatment reduced DDD by an average of 74%. Additionally, we observed one PA patient treated with spironolactone after 3 years, he presented a pharmacological cure with normalization of aldosterone and renin without treatment with spironolactone. The in vitro study shows that spironolactone increased early apoptosis by 60% and late apoptosis by 50%.CONCLUSIONS These results suggest the importance of timely diagnosis of PA and specific treatment with MRA, especially in patients with a poor response to treatment. Moreover, remission of PA may occur in some patients after spironolactone treatment due to its suggestive role as an apoptotic agent.