REN and Hypertension: There were no differences in either systolic or diastolic BP, PWV (a measure of aortic stiffness, and a proxy for hypertension), active renin levels, N-terminal-prohormone brain natriuretic peptide levels, or troponin I levels (measured to rule out concurrent myocardial damage, e.g. myocarditis) (Supplementary Fig. 1).