Norepinephrine release and reuptake by hypothalamic synaptosomes of spontaneously hypertensive rats

Effects of centrally administered glucagon-like peptide-2 on blood pressure and barosensitive neurons in spontaneously hypertensive rats

The central administration of glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) decreases blood pressure in rats. In the present study, we investigated the hypotensive effects of GLP-2 using spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs), an animal model of hypertension. The central administration of GLP-2 (0.6 μg) decreased mean arterial pressure (MAP) in SHRs (-24.1 ± 4.5%; P < 0.05), but not in normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats (-10.6 ± 7.4%; P > 0.05), whereas GLP-2 (6 μg) decreased MAP in WKY rats (-23.5 ± 4.2%; P < 0.05) and SHRs (-46.7 ± 11.6%; P < 0.01) under anesthesia with urethane and α-chloralose. Histological analyses revealed that the central administration of GLP-2 (6 μg) induced Fos immunoreactivity (Fos-IR) in the hypothalamic and medullary areas in WKY rats and SHRs. However, the distribution of Fos-IR in GABAergic neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) differed between WKY rats and SHRs. GLP-2 directly modulated the excitability of RVLM neurons in brainstem slices from SHRs, but not WKY rats. These results suggest that neuronal activity through the activation of GLP-2 receptors in the RVLM contributes to lowering blood pressure in SHRs.

Altered central catecholaminergic transmission and cardiovascular disease

Numerous studies, some of which date back more than three decades, have established a link between disorders of the cardiovascular system and the catecholaminergic system of the brain. Central noradrenergic (and putative adrenergic) neurones are involved in numerous brain functions, and there appears to be more than one mechanism via which a dysfunction of central nor/adrenergic signalling may be detrimental to the cardiovascular system. Moreover, in some cases, such as essential hypertension, altered noradrenergic transmission could play a causative role. Numerous controversies are evident throughout the literature, which are very difficult to explain without much better understanding of the basic physiology of central noradrenergic transmission. Recently, using a combination of novel molecular, electrochemical and imaging techniques, we have started to unravel how noradrenergic neurones in the brain store and release their transmitter. Targeted long-term modulation of specific noradrenergic cell groups in defined brain areas using viral gene transfer is helping to clarify the links between central catecholamines and cardiovascular control in health and disease. These studies may reveal new therapeutic strategies for various cardiovascular diseases which are accompanied by heightened sympathetic nerve activity.

The effect of repetitive electrical stimulation on the motor evoked hemodynamic responses

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of short-term repetitive electrical stimulation (rES training session) on the motor-evoked hemodynamic responses. The fMRI echo-planar images (EPI) were recorded before and after the rES training. The right median nerve (MN) was stimulated during rES. The rES training resulted in a significant increase in activity in a number of supraspinal regions, including sensorimotor and associative cortical areas. On the subcortical level, the effect was also found in the cerebellum, the midbrain, and the thalamus. Possible mechanisms of the neuronal plastic changes observed after rES, and memory processes involved in learning are discussed.

Properties of synaptic vesicle pools in mature central nerve terminals

Readily releasable and reserve pools of synaptic vesicles play different roles in neurotransmission, and it is important to understand their recycling and interchange in mature central synapses. Using adult rat cerebrocortical synaptosomes, we have shown that 100 mosm hypertonic sucrose caused complete exocytosis of only the readily releasable pool (RRP) of synaptic vesicles containing glutamate or gamma-aminobutyric acid. Repetitive hypertonic stimulations revealed that this pool recycled (and reloaded the neurotransmitter from the cytosol) fully in <30 s and did so independently of the reserve pool. Multiple rounds of exocytosis could occur in the constant absence of extracellular Ca(2+). However, although each vesicle cycle includes a Ca(2+)-independent exocytotic step, some other stage(s) critically require an elevation of cytosolic [Ca(2+)], and this is supplied by intracellular stores. Repetitive recycling also requires energy, but not the activity of phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase, which maintains the normal level of phosphoinositides. By varying the length of hypertonic stimulations, we found that approximately 70% of the RRP vesicles fused completely with the plasmalemma during exocytosis and could then enter silent pools, probably outside active zones. The rest of the RRP vesicles underwent very fast local recycling (possibly by kiss-and-run) and did not leave active zones. Forcing the fully fused RRP vesicles into the silent pool enabled us to measure the transfer of reserve vesicles to the RRP and to show that this process requires intact phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase and actin microfilaments. Our findings also demonstrate that respective vesicle pools have similar characteristics and requirements in excitatory and inhibitory nerve terminals.

Cardiovascular effects of overexpression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase in the rostral ventrolateral medulla in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats

We have previously demonstrated that the overexpression of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) decreases blood pressure, heart rate, and sympathetic nerve activity via an increase in gamma-amino butyric acid release in normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). Stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) appear to have reductions of NO production and GABA release in the RVLM. The aim of this study was to determine whether the effects of the increase in NO production in the RVLM in SHRSP are different from those in WKY. We transfected adenovirus vectors encoding either eNOS (AdeNOS) or beta-galactosidase (Adbetagal) into the RVLM of both strains. In the AdeNOS-treated group, mean arterial blood pressure and heart rate in the conscious state were significantly decreased at day 7 after the gene transfer in both strains. The decreases in mean arterial blood pressure and heart rate were significantly greater in SHRSP than in WKY. Urinary norepinephrine excretion was also decreased to a greater degree in SHRSP than in WKY after the gene transfer. The pressor response evoked by bicuculline into the RVLM of WKY was greater than that of SHRSP in the nontransfected group. However, in the AdeNOS-treated group, the pressor response did not differ between SHRSP and WKY after the gene transfer. These results indicate that the increase in NO production evoked by the overexpression of eNOS in the RVLM causes greater depressor and sympathoinhibitory responses in SHRSP than in WKY by improving an inhibitory action of GABA on the RVLM neurons.

Role of cholinergic receptors in adrenal catecholamine secretion in spontaneously hypertensive rats

We investigated the role of nicotinic and muscarinic receptors in secretion of catecholamines induced by transmural electrical stimulation (ES) from isolated perfused adrenal glands of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. ES (1-10 Hz) produced frequency-dependent increases in epinephrine (Epi) and norepinephrine (NE) output as measured in perfusate. The ES-induced increases in NE output, but not Epi output, were significantly greater in adrenal glands of SHRs than in those of WKY rats. Hexamethonium (10-100 microM) markedly inhibited the ES-induced increases in Epi and NE output from adrenal glands of SHRs and WKY rats. Atropine (0.3-3 microM) inhibited the ES-induced increases in Epi and NE output from adrenal glands of SHRs, but not from those of WKY rats. These results suggest that endogenous acetylcholine-induced secretion of adrenal catecholamines is predominantly mediated by nicotinic receptors in SHRs and WKY rats and that the contribution of muscarinic receptors may be different between these two strains.

Role of gamma-aminobutyric acid B receptors in baroreceptor reflexes in hypertensive rats

Previous studies demonstrated that stimulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid B (GABA(B)) receptors in the nucleus tractus solitarius of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) elicited a larger increase in arterial pressure compared with control Wistar-Kyoto rats. Since stimulation of GABA(B) receptors in the nucleus tractus solitarius attenuates cardiovascular responses evoked by electrical stimulation of the aortic depressor nerve in normotensive rats and there is evidence of a central neural attenuation of aortic depressor nerve-evoked responses in SHR, we conducted studies to test the hypothesis that enhanced stimulation of GABA(B) receptors in the nucleus tractus solitarius in SHR is responsible for the attenuation of the aortic depressor nerve-evoked responses. Electrical stimulation of the left aortic depressor nerve resulted in frequency-dependent decreases in arterial pressure, heart rate, and splanchnic sympathetic nerve activity in urethane-anesthetized control rats. These responses were not significantly altered by injection of the GABA(B) receptor antagonist CGP 35348 into the ipsilateral nucleus tractus solitarius. The responses evoked by aortic depressor nerve stimulation were attenuated in SHR. This attenuation was particularly apparent with more prolonged periods (>15 seconds) of high-frequency (25-Hz) stimulation, with the depressor and sympathetic nerve responses diminishing during the course of stimulation. This time- and frequency-dependent attenuation of baroreceptor-evoked depressor responses was reversed by injection of CGP 35348 into the ipsilateral nucleus tractus solitarius. Rats made hypertensive by treatment with deoxycorticosterone plus salt did not have attenuated aortic depressor nerve-evoked responses. These results suggest that alterations in GABA b-mediated neural transmission in the nucleus tractus solitarius contribute to the attenuation of the baroreceptor reflex observed in SHR.

Dissociation of hypertension and enhanced clonidine-induced antinociception in spontaneously hypertensive rats

In the present study, we evaluated the relationship between hypertension and the antinociceptive effect of clonidine in genetically hypertensive rats. Intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of clonidine (0.69 mg/kg) produced hypoalgesia without lowering blood pressure in conscious spontaneously hypertensive (SH), spontaneously hypertensive-stroke prone (SH-SP) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. The antinociceptive effect of clonidine, measured by the hot plate method, was greater in the hypertensive rats (SH-SP) than in their normotensive controls (WKY). The enhancement of clonidine-induced antinociception in these genetically hypertensive rats was not altered after acute lowering of blood pressure with guanethidine. Furthermore, the development of this hyper-antinociceptive effect of clonidine was earlier than that of hypertension in SH rats. In conclusion, our data suggest that the enhanced antinociceptive effect of clonidine in hypertensive animals is not directly related to blood pressure.

Increased activity of the GABAergic system in selected brain areas after chronic propranolol treatment in spontaneously hypertensive rats

The influence of chronically administered propranolol on the functional state of the gamma-aminobutyric acid-ergic (GABAergic) system in spontaneously hypertensive rats was studied and compared with the effect of dihydralazine. GABA content, synthesis and turnover rate in selected brain areas were assessed. Hypotensive activity of propranolol and dihydralazine after injection of GABA antagonist pictrotoxin was examined in acute experiment. Prolonged administration of propranolol increased GABA content, synthesis and turnover rate in the hypothalamus and the pons-medulla. After chronic injections of dihydralazine there was no change in GABA indices. Antihypertensive activity of dihydralazine in picrotoxin-treated animals remained unchanged. On the contrary, picrotoxin suppressed the propranolol-induced decrease in blood pressure. Our results indicate that propranolol increases GABAergic system activity. Therefore, we conclude that down-regulation of the GABAergic system in hypertension may be compensated by the regulatory action of propranolol.

Regional differences in brain norepinephrine and dopamine uptake kinetics in inbred rat strains with hypertension and/or hyperactivity

High-affinity uptake of norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) were determined in synaptosomes of brain regions from four genetically related inbred rat strains, all derived from the Wistar-Kyoto rat: SHR, WKY, WKHA and WKHT strains. SHRs express hypertension and hyperactivity, WKHAs express hyperactivity alone, WKHTs express hypertension alone, and WKYs are neither hypertensive nor hyperactive. Significant increases in NE uptake, primarily in Vmax, in cerebral cortical areas and the cerebellum, were associated with the hypertensive trait. Significant increases in DA uptake Vmax in the frontal cortex were associated with the inheritance of hyperactivity among these strains. A limited study in SHRs indicated that DA uptake in the frontal cortex increased with age, and that males did not differ from females. No changes in DA uptake in the neostriatum were found with respect to either strain, or age or sex. These findings revealed changes in brain catecholamine neuronal function that are of relevance to both hypertension and hyperactivity. This was made possible by the availability of WKHA and WKHT, in addition to WKYs, as appropriate controls for the SHR.

Pathogenesis of the essential hypertensions

The pathogenesis of essential hypertension (EH) is reviewed with a special focus on the development phase or the pre-hypertensive period. Three animal models are presented: the spontaneously hypertensive rat, the Dahl's salt-sensitive rat, and the Milan hypertensive rat. Some of the findings in animal models have inspired new fields and technical approaches for studying EH in man. From the original idea of Page, a new mosaic of various etiological parameters serves as a basis for reviewing the multiple facets of EH in man. One must conclude that EH is heterogeneous disease and most likely every single hypertensive patient belongs to a subgroup of the whole population of hypertensives.