Serum immunoglobulins in hypertension.

We measured serum immunoglobulins in 52 persons whose blood pressure was higher than 140/90 mm Hg, and 52 normotensive controls matched for age, sex and race. All were selected from a population of actively employed persons undergoing a routine health evaluation. Contrary to previous reports, the hypertensive subjects did not have higher levels of IgG or IgA than the controls. Sixteen hypertensive subjects with mean blood pressure higher than 115 mm Hg did not have elevated IgG or IgA levels when analyzed separately. Serum IgM was significantly lower in the 52 hypertensive subjects (125 +/- 67 mg/dl vs 171 +/- 85 mg/dl, p less than 0.01). Our subjects failed to show the increase in immunoglobulins reported by others. The most likely reasons for this is the mildness of their blood pressure elevation, although the absence of immunoglobulin elevation in the small number with more marked hypertension does not support this explanation.