A possible role of gonad and renal prostaglandin E2 on the development of hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Gonadectomy and hormonal replacement changes systolic blood pressure and ventricular myosin isoenzyme pattern of spontaneously hypertensive rats

We investigated the influence of testosterone on systolic blood pressure, heart weight, body weight, and ventricular myosin isoenzyme pattern of male spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats (SHRSP). In two different study series (study 1, postpubertal; study 2, prepubertal), SHRSP were gonadectomized (HG), gonadectomized and replaced with dihydrotestosterone (HG-T), and sham-operated (H). Blood pressure was significantly higher in HG-T animals in both study series. Only prepubertal gonadectomy (study 2, HG group) led to a significantly decreased blood pressure. Heart weight and body weight were significantly diminished in the HG group when compared to the H group in study 2. Dihydrotestosterone (HG-T group) reversed this effect. In both study series gonadectomy shifted the myosin isoenzyme pattern to the V3 form while testosterone replacement led to a myosin isoenzyme pattern in favor of the V1 form. We conclude that the ventricular myosin isoenzyme pattern is under the dominant control of androgens and dissociates the expression of myosin isoenzyme from both blood pressure and cardiac hypertrophy in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Effect of elastase on blood pressure and urinary excretions of prostaglandins and catecholamines in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR)

The effects of elastase on blood pressure (B.P.) and the urinary excretions of prostaglandins (PGs) and catecholamines in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) were investigated. Male SHRs (n = 20), castrated at 4 weeks of age, were divided into 2 groups. Elastase was then dissolved in saline (5 mg/ml) and injected subcutaneously (10 mg/kg of body weight) into the SHRs of one of the 2 groups (n = 10) at 5 to 13 weeks of age, and the same dose of saline only was injected subcutaneously into the SHRs of the other group (n = 10) as a control during the same period. B.P. was measured by the tail-cuff method every 2 weeks. Urine sampling and measurement of body weight (B.Wt.) were also performed every 2 weeks. The B.P. in the elastase-administered group (184.1 +/- 3.3 mmHg) was found to be significantly lower (p less than 0.02) than that of the control group (198.0. +/- 4.3) at 9 weeks of age. A significant difference (p less than 0.01) in B.P. between the control group (204.0 +/- 4.5) and the elastase-administered group (187.3 +/- 2.7) was also observed at 13 weeks of age. The urinary excretion of 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha (6-keto-PGF1 alpha) in the control group (5.1 +/- 0.4 ng/day/100 g B.Wt.) at 11 weeks of age was significantly lower (p less than 0.05) than that of the elastase-administered group (10.4 +/- 1.3).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)