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Aims The role of increased blood pressure (BP) variability and a blunted day-night BP drop is still being debated, particularly in young hypertensive subjects. We investigated the contribution of BP variability and day-night BP changes combined to cardiovascular events in initially untreated young hypertensive individuals. Methods and results We selected 1794 subjects aged ≤45 years from the HARVEST and the PIUMA studies, two long-term observational studies in subjects with hypertension. The outcome was a composite pool of non-fatal myocardial infarction or stroke, heart failure needing hospitalization, death from cardiovascular causes, and myocardial or limb revascularization procedures. During an 11.3-year follow-up, 140 cardiovascular events were accrued. A multivariable Cox model which included BP variability and non-dipping was more informative (Akaike Information Criterion = 1536.9) than the model which included average of 24-h BP (Akaike Information Criterion = 1553.6). A higher hazard ratio (HR) was observed for non-dipping [HR 2.22; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.55–3.17; P Conclusion In young hypertensive individuals, prognostic models including BP variability and non-dipping pattern provide better information than models with average 24-h ambulatory BP alone. More consideration should be given to BP variability and the day-night BP pattern beyond the average 24-h ambulatory BP in young hypertensive subjects.

Glomerular hyperfiltration predicts development of nephropathy in hypertension but the factors responsible for increased glomerular filtration rate (GFR) are not well known. Aim of this study was to examine which clinical variables influence GFR in the early stage of hypertension.Participants were 1,106 young-to-middle-age hypertensive adults with creatinine clearance60 ml/min/1.73 m(2). Clinic and ambulatory blood pressures (BPs) were measured and the difference between clinic and 24-h systolic BP was defined as the white-coat effect (WCE). In 606 participants, 24-h urinary epinephrine and norepinephrine were also measured. Glomerular hyperfiltration, defined as a GFR ≥150 ml/min/1.73 m(2), was present in 201 subjects.Patients' mean age was 33.1 ± 8.5 years and office BP was 146 ± 10.5/94 ± 5.0 mm Hg. In multivariable linear regression, significant predictors of GFR were younger age (P0.0001), male gender (P0.0001), 24-h systolic BP (P = 0.0001), body mass (P0.0001), WCE (P = 0.02), log-epinephrine (P = 0.01), and coffee use (P0.01). In a logistic model, independent predictors of glomerular hyperfiltration were obesity (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval = 6.1, 3.8-9.8), male gender (2.9, 1.8-4.9), age33 years (2.1, 1.5-3.1), ambulatory hypertension (2.0, 1.4-3.0), WCE15 mm Hg (1.6, 1.1-2.3), heavy coffee use (2.0, 1.1-3.8), and epinephrine25 mcg/24 h (1.9, 1.2-3.1).The novel finding of this study is that hyper-reactivity to stress, as determined by urinary epinephrine level and WCE, and coffee use contribute to determining glomerular hyperfiltration in the early stage of hypertension. Our data may help to identify a subset of patients with glomerular hyperfiltration, who may be at increased risk of chronic kidney disease and may benefit from antihypertensive treatment.