Mechanisms of Refractory Hypertension (High and Low Salt Diet)

We are proposing a unique phenotype of antihypertensive treatment failure that we refer to as refractory HTN. We have come to feel that while resistant (RHTN) represents a broad phenotype with multiple and overlapping etiologies of treatment resistance, there is a unique subset of patients who never achieve BP control in spite of maximal therapy. In a recently published retrospective analysis of our clinic experience, we found that patients with refractory HTN comprised about 10% of patients referred to us for RHTN.

A large number of intervention studies have verified the benefit of dietary salt restriction to reduce BP. We made such an assessment in a prospective, randomized, cross-over comparison of high- and low salt diets in 12 patients with confirmed RHTN. The average reduction in BP going from high to the low salt diet was 23/10 mmHg in the clinic and 20/10 mmHg during 24-hr ambulatory BP monitoring. These dramatic results demonstrated that patients with RHTN are exquisitely salt-sensitive and highlight the degree of BP reduction that can be accomplished with meaningful salt restriction. However, we are proposing the novel hypothesis that refractory HTN is mechanistically unique from RHTN in that it is not secondary to recalcitrant fluid retention.

Determining an association between dietary salt restriction and severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) would potentially help us to find new therapies guided towards achieving better control of BP in patients with refractory HTN. We will investigate the effect of dietary salt intake on severity of OSA vascular function in patients with refractory HTN by doing vascular studies (pulse wave analysis/velocity, calculating thoracic impedance)).