Nerve growth factor (NGF) is the main neurotrophic factor that can control sympathetic nerve innervation and sympathetic neural activity in cardiovascular organs. Although NGF overproduction and its influences on the sympathetic nervous system have been shown in hypertensive animals, NGF status and its association with sympathetic nerve activity have not yet been explored in human hypertension. In the present study, therefore, plasma and urinary levels of NGF and those of catecholamines (i.e., indices for NGF status and sympathoadrenal activity, respectively) were compared between 83 untreated primary hypertensives without apparent cardiovascular damages and 81 healthy normotensive subjects. Plasma and urinary levels of NGF were significantly greater in the hypertensive group (311 ± 158 pg/mL and 72.7 ± 54.0 ng/g of Cr) than in the normotensive group (168 ± 188 pg/mL and 54.5 ± 38.8 ng/g of Cr) ( for each measurement), even if the baseline differences of age and gender between the groups were adjusted. Similarly, plasma and urinary levels of catecholamines were significantly higher in the hypertensive group than in the normotensive group except for plasma noradrenaline. In addition, despite no significant correlations between plasma levels of NGF and catecholamines in both groups, urinary NGF significantly correlated positively with both urinary noradrenaline and urinary adrenaline in the hypertensive group (r = 0.259, and r = 0.232, ), but not in the normotensive group (r = 0.115, and r = −0.018, ). On the contrary, plasma and urinary levels of NGF as well as those of catecholamines did not associate with any systemic hemodynamic indices such as blood pressure and pulse rate in either group. Thus, primary hypertension was characterized by the enhancements of both NGF status and sympathoadrenal activity and the positive relationship between them. Our data indicate that enhanced NGF status and subsequent NGF-induced sympathoadrenal overactivity could occur in primary hypertension.

中文翻译：

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原发性高血压患者的血浆和尿中神经生长因子水平升高

神经生长因子（NGF）是控制心血管器官交感神经支配和交感神经活动的主要神经营养因子。虽然 NGF 过度产生及其对交感神经系统的影响已在高血压动物中得到证实，但 NGF 状态及其与交感神经活动的关联尚未在人类高血压中进行探索。因此，在本研究中，比较了 83 名未治疗且无明显心血管损害的原发性高血压患者和 81 名血压正常的健康受试者之间 NGF 和儿茶酚胺的血浆和尿液水平（即 NGF 状态和交感肾上腺活性指数）。高血压组的血浆和尿 NGF 水平显着升高（311 ± 158 pg/mL 和 72.7 ± 54.每次测量），即使调整了组间年龄和性别的基线差异。同样，除了血浆去甲肾上腺素外，高血压组的血浆和尿中儿茶酚胺水平显着高于正常血压组。此外，尽管两组血浆 NGF 和儿茶酚胺水平无显着相关性，但高血压组尿 NGF 与尿去甲肾上腺素和尿肾上腺素均呈显着正相关（r  = 0.259，和r  = 0.232，)，但在正常血压组中没有 ( r  = 0.115,和r  = -0.018，）。相反，NGF 的血浆和尿液水平以及儿茶酚胺的水平与任何一组血液动力学指标（如血压和脉搏率）均不相关。因此，原发性高血压的特征在于 NGF 状态和交感肾上腺活性的增强以及它们之间的正相关关系。我们的数据表明，原发性高血压可能发生 NGF 状态增强和随后 NGF 诱导的交感肾上腺过度活跃。