Stress-induced hypertension: effects of adrenalectomy and corticosterone replacement

The effect of adrenalectomy on the hypotensive response induced by social deprivation was studied in a line of Wistar-derived rats. Prior removal of the adrenal gland by surgery was found to prevent the elevation in systolic or diastolic blood pressure observed in sham-operated isolated rats. The social deprivation-induced hypertensive response ran parallel with an increase in the levels of plasma corticosterone. Supplementation therapy with this glucocorticoid in previously adrenalectomized animals restored the levels of plasma corticosterone to normal and made the rats able to respond to social deprivation with an elevation in arterial pressure. Thus, corticosterone plays a "permissive" role in the elevation of blood pressure due to isolation. Apparently, this effect is dependent upon genetic, maturational and environmental factors since it is only evident in some lines of Wistar rats.