Figure 6.

Urinary prostasin levels in patients with primary aldosteronism and control patients. (a) Time course of urinary prostasin expression in patients with primary aldosteronism (patient 1) before and after the adrenalectomy. Sample volumes were adjusted to be equivalent to 750 μg creatinine excretion, and urinary excretion of prostasin was determined by the immunoblotting. Urinary Na/K ratio is shown at the bottom. (b) Urinary prostasin excretion in two other independent patients with primary aldosteronism (patients 2 and 3) and in three other independent patients with normal PAC level who had the surgery for other reasons (patients 4, 5, and 6). Twenty-four–hour urine collections were made before and 7 days after surgery. The urinary excretion of prostasin was determined by immunoblotting as described above. Pt, patient.