Vascular vasopressin receptors in renal hypertensive rats

Potential Role of the Skin in Hypertension Risk Through Water Conservation

Previous basic and clinical investigations have identified various pathogenic factors and determinants of risk that contribute to hypertension. Nevertheless, the pathogenesis of hypertension has not been fully elucidated. Moreover, despite the availability of antihypertensive medications for the management of blood pressure, treatments that address the full spectrum of the pathophysiological defects underpinning hypertension remain to be identified. To further investigate the mechanisms of primary hypertension, it is imperative to consider novel potential aspects, such as fluid management by the skin, in addition to the conventional risk factors. There is a close association between body fluid regulation and blood pressure, and the kidney, which, as the principal organ responsible for body fluid homeostasis, is the primary target for research in the field of hypertension. In addition, the skin functions as a biological barrier, potentially contributing to body fluid regulation. In this review, we propose the hypothesis that changes in skin water conservation are associated with hypertension risk based on recent findings. Further studies are required to clarify whether this novel hypothesis is limited to specific hypertension or applies to physiological blood pressure regulation.

An increased extrasynaptic NMDA tone inhibits A-type K+ current and increases excitability of hypothalamic neurosecretory neurons in hypertensive rats

KEY POINTS

A functional coupling between extrasynaptic NMDA receptors (eNMDARs) and the A-type K+ current (IA ) influences homeostatic firing responses of magnocellular neurosecretory cells (MNCs) to a physiological challenge. However, whether an altered eNMDAR-IA coupling also contributes to exacerbated MNC activity and neurohumoral activation during disease states is unknown. We show that activation of eNMDARs by exogenously applied NMDA inhibited IA in MNCs obtained from sham, but not in MNCs from renovascular hypertensive (RVH) rats. Neither the magnitude of the exogenously evoked NMDA current nor the expression of NMDAR subunits were altered in RVH rats. Conversely, we found that a larger endogenous glutamate tone, which was not due to blunted glutamate transport activity, led to the sustained activation of eNMDARs that tonically inhibited IA , contributing in turn to higher firing activity in RVH rats. Our studies show that exacerbated activation of eNMDARs by endogenous glutamate contributes to tonic inhibition of IA and enhanced MNC excitability in RVH rats.

ABSTRACT

We recently showed that a functional coupling between extrasynaptic NMDA receptors (eNMDARs) and the A-type K+ current (IA ) influences the firing activity of hypothalamic magnocellular neurosecretory neurons (MNCs), as well as homeostatic adaptive responses to a physiological challenge. Here, we aimed to determine whether changes in the eNMDAR-IA coupling also contributed to exacerbated MNC activity during disease states. We used a combination of patch-clamp electrophysiology and real-time PCR in MNCs in sham and renovascular hypertensive (RVH) rats. Activation of eNMDARs by exogenously applied NMDA inhibited IA in sham rats, but this effect was largely blunted in RVH rats. The blunted response was not due to changes in eNMDAR expression and/or function, since neither NMDA current magnitude or reversal potential, nor the levels of NR1-NR2A-D subunit expression were altered in RVH rats. Conversely, we found a larger endogenous glutamate tone, resulting in the sustained activation of eNMDARs that tonically inhibited IA and contributed also to higher ongoing firing activity in RVH rats. The enhanced endogenous glutamate tone in RVH rats was not due to blunted glutamate transporter activity. Rather, a higher transporter activity was observed, which possibly acted as a compensatory mechanism in the face of the elevated endogenous tone. In summary, our studies indicate that an elevated endogenous glutamate tone results in an exacerbated activation of eNMDARs, which in turn contributes to diminished IA magnitude and increased firing activity of MNCs from hypertensive rats.