Cardiovascular contraction in spontaneously hypertensive rat: Ca2+ interaction of myofibrils and subcellular membrane of heart and arterial smooth muscle

Norepinephrine release and reuptake by hypothalamic synaptosomes of spontaneously hypertensive rats

We compared the overflow of endogenous norepinephrine during electrical field stimulation, the norepinephrine content, and the rate of initial neuronal uptake of [3H]norepinephrine in synaptosomes isolated from hypothalamus and brainstem of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats at 7 and 13 weeks of age. The synaptosomes of two rats, a SHR and a WKY rat control, were simultaneously processed and subjected to the same electrical field stimulation. The overflow of endogenous norepinephrine during electrical stimulation (2 Hz, 2 minutes) in the hypothalamic synaptosomes of 7-week-old SHR was significantly greater, whereas the overflow of 13-week-old SHR was equivalent to the age-matched WKY rat. The norepinephrine content of synaptosomes was about the same in SHR and age-matched controls. There was also significantly enhanced [3H]norepinephrine uptake in the hypothalamic synaptosomes of young SHR, but neither the hypothalamic nor the brainstem samples of 13-week-old SHR showed any significant difference in their rate of [3H]norepinephrine uptake. These data are similar to those we observed (unpublished observations) in perfused mesenteric artery system in which norepinephrine release was significantly elevated during periarterial nerve stimulation only in young SHR. Thus, these results suggest that a parallel enhancement of norepinephrine release in hypothalamus with that of peripheral nervous system may play an important role during development of hypertension in young SHR.

Ouabain-induced contraction of vascular smooth muscle in spontaneously hypertensive rats and the effect of hydralazine

The effect of ouabain (10(-3) M) on contractile responses of SHR (spontaneously hypertensive rat) and WKY (Wistar-Kyoto rat) aortas and mesenteric arteries was studied. Ouabain addition caused a rapid contraction of aortic strips with a steeper rate of rise and a larger maximal force development in strips from SHR than WKY. This difference in contractile response is known to occur in the prehypertensive period of SHR (4-week-old). Phentolamine (10(-6) M) pretreatment had no effect on the ouabain-induced contraction but partially suppressed it in both SHR and WKY aortas when diltiazem (10(-5) M) was also added. The difference in the ouabain-induced contractions of SHR and WKY aortas was more apparent in the residual contraction during suppression by diltiazem. The 45Ca uptake in the presence of ouabain was significantly larger in the early period of incubation in SHR aorta than in WKY aorta. The ouabain-induced contraction of hydralazine-treated SHR aorta from the prehypertensive period was very similar to that of non-treated WKY aorta. These results suggested that the abnormality of the ouabain-induced contraction in SHR arterial smooth muscle could have arisen from an increased Ca2+ movement due to Ca2+ leakage when ouabain inhibited the Na+-pump in the membrane. This abnormality seems to start during the prehypertensive period and continue in the hypertensive stage.

A role of calcium in altered sodium ion transport of hypertensives?

Research on the etiology of essential hypertension has led to many reports of altered ion transport in cells from hypertensive patients and animal models. Abnormalities in sodium and calcium ion gradients and transport in vascular smooth muscle, neuronal tissue, cardiac muscle as well as erythrocytes have been extensively investigated. It is not clear whether these abnormalities are of primary or secondary nature. The current knowledge of sodium and calcium ion transport in essential hypertension is briefly reviewed here. Furthermore, evidence is presented which suggests a role of calcium in the regulation of sodium transport activity.

Evidence that intraluminal pressure affects high potassium- and serotonin-induced contractions differently in the bovine middle cerebral artery: an in vitro study

The effects of changing intraluminal pressure on contractions induced by 70 mM potassium (K+) and 10(-7), 10(-6), and 10(-5) M serotonin (5-HT) were studied in vitro in bovine middle cerebral arteries. Changes in vessel outside diameter in whole-mounted cylindrical sections of artery were detected with a photoelectric infrared device. High K+-or 5-HT (10(-5)M)-induced contractions peaked at 25 mm Hg and were significantly correlated with increasing intraluminal pressure between 25 and 175 mm Hg. Contractions induced with lower concentrations of 5-HT (10(-6), 10(-7) M), norepinephrine, and histamine peaked at 75 mm Hg but were not significantly correlated with rising pressure. Phentolamine (2 X 10(-6) M) added to the extraluminal bath had negligible influence on pressure's ability to affect K+- and 5-HT-induced contractions differently. Reducing bath temperature to 27 degrees C reduced the K+ response at each pressure, but similar temperature changes had little affect on the 5-HT-induced contractions. The K+ response became less sensitive to increasing pressure at low temperatures. Nifedipine (10(-7) M) almost totally eliminated K+-induced contractions, while significantly reducing the responses to all concentrations of 5-HT. The 5-HT responses appeared more sensitive to increasing intraluminal pressure in the presence of nifedipine. Maximum Ca++-induced contractions in the presence of 10(-5) M 5-HT and high K+ occurred at 25 mm Hg, while Ca++-induced contractions and Ca++-induced contractions in the presence of 10(-7) 5-HT or K+ plus 5-HT were maximum at 75 mm Hg.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

What's new in cellular cation exchange and humoral factors in primary hypertension?

In essential hypertension abnormalities of cellular Na+ and Ca++ handling have been described. The latter disturbance probably offers an explanation for the increased vasoconstriction in essential hypertension. The etiology of those disturbances in cellular Na+ and Ca++ metabolism may be related to genetic disturbances of membrane transport, or to a humoral factor influencing cellular cation metabolism.

ATP-dependent calcium uptake in myocardial sarcoplasmic reticulum from spontaneously hypertensive rats: effect of modification of dietary protein

Membrane fractions enriched in sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) were isolated from the cardiac ventricles of 10-month-old, stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) which had been maintained for nine months on one of four experimental diets: low protein (LP) (19% protein), standard (STD) (24% protein), high protein (HP) (32% protein), or high methionine (1.9% methionine) (MET). ATPase activities, as well as ATP-dependent Ca2+ binding and Ca2+-uptake activities, of the isolated SR were determined to examine the influence of diet on myocardial Ca2+-pump activity. SR from all four groups exhibited similar Mg2+-ATPase activity. However, the (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase activity was significantly elevated in SR from rats on the MET diet while the activity in the other groups showed no significant differences. After 15 sec of incubation, Ca2+-uptake (presence of oxalate) in SR from the LP group was significantly less than Ca2+-uptake in SR from each of the three other diet groups. Ca2+ binding (absence of oxalate) in the SR from the LP group was also significantly less than that from each of the three other diet groups. Kinetic analysis of SR Ca2+-uptake over 60 sec revealed that the Bmax of the MET group was significantly higher than Bmax of the STD diet group. In addition, the Bmax of the LP group was significantly lower than Bmax of the HP and MET groups. There was no significant difference in affinity of the SR Ca2+-uptake system among the four diet groups. These results indicate that modification of dietary protein can influence myocardial SR Ca2+-pump function.

Aggregation, membrane potential, and transport in platelets of spontaneously hypertensive rats

Aggregation, plasma membrane potential, and calcium uptake by platelets of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were studied. The sensitivity of SHR platelets to the action of ADP and collagen was increased. The addition of Ca-ionophore (A-23187) resulted in aggregation of SHR platelets at a Ca2+ concentration in the incubation medium 20%-30% lower than that required for aggregation of platelets from normotensive rats. The plasma membrane of SHR platelets was found to be partially depolarized (by 8-10 mV) as compared to that of normotensive controls. This difference was apparently due to a higher membrane permeability for Na+. It is suggested that the increase in 45Ca uptake by SHR platelets is related to an increased rate of Ca2+ diffusion along a potential-dependent channel, due to partial depolarization of plasma membrane.

Calcium-dependent proteolytic stimulation of adenylate cyclase in platelets from spontaneously hypertensive rats

Abnormalities of platelet aggregation and cyclic nucleotide metabolism are present in hypertension. We observed a greater increase in the level of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP) after prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) stimulation and a lack of decrease of this cyclic nucleotide by epinephrine in platelets from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) as compared to normotensive rats. The difference in cyclic AMP production between SHR and control rats in response to PGE1 is dependent upon platelet exposure to calcium. Since calcium and cyclic AMP are closely related and are both abnormally regulated in hypertension, we have studied the effect of calcium on adenylate cyclase activity. We show here that two forms of endogenous calcium-dependent proteases (membrane-bound and soluble) stimulate the basal activity and the hormonal responsiveness of adenylate cyclase. The sensitivity of calcium-dependent proteolytic control of adenylate cyclase to very-low concentrations of calcium indicates that the regulation may be physiologically important. Furthermore, calcium exerts a greater influence on platelet adenylate cyclase from SHR than on that from normotensive rats. The adenylate cyclase defect seems to be located in the membrane fraction and may, therefore, result from an increase in the activity of the membrane-bound calcium-protease or may be intrinsic to adenylate cyclase itself. The exact site that is sensitive to proteolysis remains to be established.

Calmodulin-dependent Ca2+ transport in erythrocytes of spontaneously hypertensive rats

Ca2+ transport in inside-out vesicles of the erythrocyte membranes of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) was studied. In the presence of calmodulin, the rate of 45Ca uptake by the erythrocyte membranes of SHR was half that of erythrocyte membranes of the normotensive control group. It is suggested that the decrease of the rate of calmodulin-dependent calcium transport across the plasma membrane may be a cause for the increased intracellular calcium content found in some tissues of spontaneously hypertensive rats in previous studies.

Polyphosphoinositide metabolism in erythrocytes from spontaneously hypertensive rats

Incorporation of 32P into di- and triphosphoinositides of erythrocytes from 1-month-old spontaneously hypertensive rats was lower, and diphosphoinositide content higher, than in controls. During development of hypertension these initial differences decreased and were even reversed.

Different antihypertensive effects of nifedipine in conscious experimental hypertensive and normotensive rats

Antihypertensive effects of nifedipine and hydralazine were investigated in normotensive rats, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), DOCA-NaCl hypertensive rats and renal hypertensive rats all in a conscious state. The blood pressure fall after nifedipine 5 mg/kg p.o. was 22% of the initial value in normotensive rats, 49% in SHR, 53% in DOCA-NaCl hypertensive rats and 44% in renal hypertensive rats. Hydralazine in the same dose decreased the blood pressure by 40% in normotensive rats, 52% in SHR, 33% in DOCA-NaCl hypertensive rats and 54% in renal hypertensive rats. The selective action of nifedipine in hypertensive rats in contrast to normotensive rats seemed to be attributable to the different affinity for calcium ion of vascular smooth muscle of hypertensive rats as compared with that of normotensive rats. Also, the heart rate of hypertensive rats or normotensive rats was increased with nifedipine but less than with hydralazine.

Features of intracellular calcium distribution in the adipose tissue of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR)

The in vitro study of the kinetics of 45Ca efflux from adipose tissue of rats reveals 3 pools of exchangeable calcium. Calcium content in the intracellular pools of adipose tissue of spontaneously hypertensive rats is increased as compared to that in normotensive controls.

Calcium accumulation and enzymatic activities of subcellular fractions from aortas and ventricles of genetically hypertensive rats

Subcellular fractions were obtained from aortas and ventricles of 6-month-old spontaneously hypertensive and normotensive Wistar rats by the use of differential and sucrose density gradient centrifugation. These preparations were studied to determine what alterations in calcium accumulation and enzymatic activities might be associated with hypertension. The total amount of calcium accumulation (in the presence of ATP and 17 muM free calcium) by the plasma membrane-enriched fraction from hypertensive rat aortas significantly less than that from normotensive rats (11.3 +/- 0.4 vs 16.2 +/- 1.6 mumol of calcium/g of protein, n = 8). In contrast the specific activities of the plasma membrane marker enzymes, 5'-nucleotidase and phosphodiesterase I, were 80% and 40% greater, respectively, in the hypertensive than in the normotensive fractions. On the other hand, various fractions from ventricles of the two types of rats were generally similar in enzyme activities and calcium accumulation. The decreased rate of relaxation of aortas from spontaneously hypertensive rats may be caused by the decreased rate of calcium transport demonstrated in this study.