Brain Metabolism and Arterial Acid-Base Balance Following Bilateral Carotid Occlusion in Normotensive and Experimental Hypertensive Rats

Experimental cerebral ischemia in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR): Importance of degree of hypertension

To study the relationship between the degree of hypertension and experimentally-induced cerebral ischemia, brain metabolites, including lactate, pyruvate and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) were determined one hour after bilateral carotid occlusion in 119 spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) with a variety of mean arterial pressures (MAP). Of these, 36 SHR were given antihypertensive agents for 10 weeks to reduce blood pressure prior to the experiment. There was a significant linear correlation between MAP before and either supratentorial lactate (r = 0.482, p less than 0.001) or the lactate/pyruvate ratio (r = 0.388, p less than 0.001) in the brain after carotid occlusion. An inverse correlation was observed between supratentorial lactate and either ATP (r = -0.627, p less than 0.001) or arterial PCO2 (r = -0.477, p less than 0.001) after carotid occlusion. The changes suggest that the animals with a higher MAP had a greater increase in ischemic metabolites with a decrease in ATP and a more pronounced hypocapnia after carotid occlusion. This hypocapnia is believed to be due to hyperventilation induced by cerebral ischemia. It is concluded that hypertensive rats are more susceptible to cerebral ischemia and the susceptibility is related to the degree of hypertension. By long-term lowering of the blood pressure prior to carotid occlusion, the ischemic changes are lessened in this experimental model.

Effects of acute hypertension on brain metabolism in normotensive, renovascular hypertensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats

Effects of angiotensin-induced acute hypertension on cerebral metabolism were studied in normotensive (NTR), spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and experimental renovascular hypertensive rats (RHR). Lactate, pyruvate and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentrations in the brain frozen in situ at 18--20 min after angiotensin infusion, which raised mean arterial pressure (MAP) by 28--62% of control, were determined by enzymatic methods. Supratentorial lactate was significantly increased to 135% of control in RHR, its increase being correlated with the degree of hypertension, wherease it remained unchanged in NTR or SHR. Furthermore, RHR showed a tendency toward increase in lactate/pyruvate ratio with a decrease in ATP despite no change of arterial acid-base balance measured simultaneously before and after acute induced hypertension. From the present study, it is postulated that some renal factor seems to contribute ischemic metabolic changes in RHR following acute hypertension. The possible effect of renin on the vascular permeability is discussed as the pathogenesis of hypertensive encephalopathy.