Inherited disturbances of phenylalanine metabolic kinetics in essential hypertension

To clarify whether the disturbances in metabolic kinetics of the essential aminoacid, phenylalanine (phe), are implicated in the genetic pathogenesis of essential hypertension (EH).

1. L-(2, 3D3)-leucine, L-(2, 3D3)-isoleucine, L-15N-lysine, L-(2, 3D3)-valine and L-(2, 3D3)-phe were used for simultaneously studying comparative metabolic kinetics using stable isotope tracer methods with a GC-MS system. Study groups were the offspring with both parents suffering EH (n = 10, FH+), 2 or more than 2 parents and grand-parents with EH and stroke (n = 12, FS+) and those without genetic predisposition of EH and stroke (n = 12, F) groups. 2. By comparing the radioactive counts of [3H]-phe, and their weight transformation in blood after 1.5 Ci/kg i.v. administration at defined intervals and in tissues obtained after being sacrified among spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), 2 kidney-1 clip hypertensive rats (2K1C) and their normotensive controls (WKY). 3. The time transport and concentration transport of [3H]-L-phe in cpm between the cultured vascular smooth muscle cell of 5th generation in SHR and WKY were compared.

A single and unique disturbance of metabolic kinetics in phe were found in FH+, FS+ and SHR. The plasma pool or apparent volume of distribution was enlarged, and the turnover rate constants between plasma and cell tended to show a decrease. The pharmacokinetics of phe in 2K1C was not changed. Only phe content in heart and aorta, the vital organs for predicting BP, were higher in SHR than in WKY tissues studied. Both the time and concentration transport were higher in SHR, e.g., an increment in the net-uptake of L-phe by vascular tissue.

A unique aberrant of metabolic kinetics of phe might be implicated in the inherited pathogenesis of EH and stroke both from clinical and animal studies.