[Changes in autoantibody against cardiovascular AT1-receptor during development of renovascular hypertension in rats]

The aim of this study was to observe the change in angiotensin II receptor subtype 1 (AT(1)) autoantibody during the development of renovascular hypertension (RVH). The Goldblatt renovascular hypertension model was established by the two-kidney one-clip method, and a synthetic peptide corresponding to amino acid sequence 165-191 of the second extracellular loop of the AT(1)-receptor was used as the antigen. Sera AT(1)-receptor autoantibody was detected by SA-ELISA. It was shown that two weeks after operation both the frequency of occurrence and the titre of autoantibodies to AT(1)-receptor were significantly increased as compared with the pre-treatment control. The increase in autoantibodies lasted several weeks and then decreased gradually to the pre-clipping level at 12 weeks. It is suggested that autoimmune mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of renovascular hypertension and the AT(1) autoantibodies may be one of the mechanisms leading to cardiac hypertrophy.