Calcium transport in erythrocytes of rats with spontaneous hypertension

In Quin-2-loaded erythrocytes of two genetically hypertensive rat strains (spontaneously hypertensive rats, SHR, and the Milan hypertensive strain, MHS) intracellular Ca2+ (Ca2+i) concentration and 45Ca influx rate were increased by 25-30 and 15-20% respectively, in comparison with normotensive controls (Wistar-Kyoto rats, WKY, and rats of the Milan normotensive strain, MNS). After 4 h incubation in the presence of 5 mmol/l sodium vanadate (Na3VO4) as an inhibitor of Ca-ATPase, 45Ca content of intact erythrocytes of SHR was twofold higher while erythrocyte count of stroke-prone SHR (SHRSP) was threefold higher than in WKY. This increase was observed in SHR during the pre-hypertensive stage. Under the same conditions, no difference was noted between MHS and MNS rats. The rate of 32P influx, as well as the concentration of exchangeable chloride, was studied. We failed to detect any significant differences in either parameter between hypertensive and normotensive rats, suggesting that altered cell membrane potential was not responsible for allied Ca fluxes. Erythrocyte shrinking, however, resulted in a two to threefold increase in the rate of 45Ca influx. Neither the rate of 45Ca influx nor Ca2+i were modified by the inhibitor of calmodulin-dependent reactions, R24571 (10 mumol/l). It is suggested that the higher rate of Ca2+ influx in Quin-2-loaded erythrocytes of SHR, as well as the increment in 45Ca content in intact erythrocytes treated with orthovanadate, is due to a change in membrane skeleton organization and cell shrinkage.