Arterial neuroeffector responses in early and mature spontaneously hypertensive rats

Intramural sympathetic neuroeffector responses and presynaptic regulation of neurotransmission by amine uptake and alpha 2-adrenergic receptors were examined in young (5-week-old) and mature (12-week-old) spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and were compared with those of age-matched Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) control rats. Electrical field stimulation (20 V, 0.2-msec pulse width, 3-second pulse train each minute, 5-100 Hz) elicited contractile responses from isolated mesenteric arteries mounted in a myograph. There was a significant difference between the sensitivity of arteries to electrical field stimulation in the two age groups, with arteries from 12-week-old rats being more sensitive than arteries from 5-week-old animals. Also, there was a significant age-strain interaction: the sensitivity of arteries from SHR to electrical field stimulation increased dramatically with age compared with that of WKY rat arteries. Cocaine significantly increased the sensitivity to electrical field stimulation after inhibition of presynaptic alpha 2-adrenergic receptors, and had a significantly greater effect in arteries from 5-week-old SHR compared with WKY controls. This would reflect an overactive neuronal amine uptake mechanism in young SHR. At 12 weeks there was no significant interstrain difference in the effect of cocaine. Yohimbine increased the sensitivity to electrical field stimulation both before and after inhibition of neuronal amine uptake, but there was no difference in its effect with age or strain. Therefore, although sensitivity to sympathetic nerve stimulation varies with age in the SHR, there is no evidence that this can be ascribed to alpha 2-adrenergic receptor function.