Comparison of the vascular and glomerular changes in aortic-ligature and DOCA-salt hypertension

1. Animals and histology from two previous investigations were used to test the hypothesis that a similar elevation in blood pressure may result in a different sequence of pathological changes in different experimental models of hypertension, DOCA-salt and aortic-ligature hypertension. 2. To asses differences in morphological parameters, individual animals in the two groups were paired (n = 12) for the same level of blood pressure at sacrifice. 3. Vascular damage was significantly less in the DOCA-salt group (P less than 0.01). Glomerular lesions however were more severe in the DOCA-salt group. In rats with aortic-ligature hypertension significantly fewer glomeruli had fibrinoid and/or crescents than in DOCA-salt rats (P less than 0.001). There were fewer glomeruli with epithelial cell droplets (ECD) and fewer ECD per glomerulus in aortic-ligature when compared with DOCA-salt hypertension (P less than 0.001, P less than 0.001, respectively). 4. This study highlights the significance of factors other than blood pressure per se in producing vessel and glomerular lesions in experimental hypertension.