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Updated: Aug 3, 2026

Simultaneous Electrocardiography Recording and Invasive Blood Pressure Measurement in Rats
Published on: January 31, 2019
Rapid hypotensive response to fasting in spontaneously hypertensive rats
S M Fitzgerald1, J E Hall, M W Brands
1Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, USA. sharyn.fitzgerald@fysiologi.gu.se
Abstract:
This study examined changes in renal function and mean arterial pressure (MAP) in spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats during 48 h of fasting, independent of changes in sodium intake. Spontaneously hypertensive rats (n = 17) and WKY rats (n = 10) were instrumented with artery and vein catheters and sodium intake was clamped at 2.1 mEq/day. By day 2 of fasting, MAP decreased -10+/-1 mm Hg (P < .001) in SHR, but did not change significantly in WKY rats. Heart rate decreased significantly in both groups by day 2 of fasting and there was a significant increase in urine volume and sodium excretion. Thus, fasting caused a rapid decrease in MAP in SHR that was not due to decreased sodium intake, but may be related, in part, to volume loss and improved renal excretory function.

