Renin Profiling to Predict Response to Antihypertensive Therapy—Reply

In Reply: Drs Blaufox and Wassertheil-Smoller were investigators in the Trial of Antihypertensive Interventions and Management (TAIM) Research Group.¹ Their study was a controlled clinical trial of overweight subjects with stage 1 hypertension. Patients were randomly allocated to receive 1 of 2 drugs (atenolol or chlorthalidone) or placebo and to a dietary intervention (usual diet, weight loss diet, or a low-sodium, high-potassium diet). This approach was very different from our study design; we did not attempt dietary intervention as part of our study. Furthermore, we performed classic plasma renin profiling using the Laragh-Sealy method.² We did not calculate a plasma renin index. Although only men were in our study, we are not aware of any specific sex differences in treatment response. The TAIM group reported that black patients responded better to chlorthalidone plus weight loss, whereas white patients responded better to atenolol plus weight loss.