Exaggerated renal vascular reactivity to angiotensin and thromboxane in young genetically hypertensive rats

The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that angiotensin II and thromboxane A2 (TxA2) contribute to the elevated renal vascular resistance observed during the development of genetic hypertension. In 6-wk-old anesthetized spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, renal blood flow (electromagnetic flowmetry) and carotid arterial pressure were measured during bolus injections of different doses of angiotensin II and U46619 (stable receptor agonist of TxA2) into the renal artery before and during inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis by indomethacin. In all cases, arterial pressure remained unchanged at the pre-injection levels. Under control conditions, angiotensin II reduced renal blood flow in SHR almost twice as much as in WKY. This strain difference was abolished by inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis, suggesting that a deficiency in the action of endogenous vasodilator prostaglandins is responsible for the enhanced response to angiotensin II in SHR. Under control conditions, the TxA2-receptor agonist produced similar reductions of renal blood flow in SHR and WKY. However, after indomethacin, the agonist-induced vasoconstriction was twice as large in SHR as in WKY, suggesting that SHR kidneys have an increased vascular reactivity to TxA2, which is unmasked when indomethacin reduces elevated levels of endogenous TxA2. These findings indicate important strain differences between young SHR and WKY in the renal vascular response to angiotensin II and TxA2 that may contribute to the renal vasoconstriction observed during the development of genetic hypertension.