Vasopressin and renin response to plasma volume loss in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Abnormalities in the vasopressin (VP) and renin-angiotensin systems have been described in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Responsiveness of these systems to a decrease in plasma volume was examined in the SHR at 6, 8, and 18 wk of age and compared with responses in age-matched normotensive Wistar and Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY). Trunk blood was collected 3 h after administration of 2 ml/100 g body wt of 0.9% saline, 15 or 30% polyethylene glycol (PEG), and in one group of conscious 8- and 18-wk-old rats, mean arterial pressure was monitored following PEG administration. Hematocrit and serum VP increased significantly in both strains at all ages following PEG. At 6 and 8 wk of age, the VP response to the PEG injection was significantly greater in SHR compared with WKY (P less than 0.005), but at 18 wk the response was comparable in the two strains. Serum renin activity (SRA) also increased in both strains receiving PEG at 6 and 8 wk of age, but the response was suppressed in the SHR relative to the WKY (P less than 0.001). At 18 wk of age, SRA increased in WKY, but the response was totally suppressed in SHR. Renal renin content in a separate group of rats was reduced in 19-wk-old SHR compared with WKY (P less than 0.001) but was not different in 5- and 8-wk-old rats. Thus there appears to be a hyperresponsiveness in the VP system in young SHRs that is not present in the renin-angiotensin system. The divergence in the responsiveness of the renin and VP systems and the attenuation of responsiveness in the VP system in 18-wk SHRs indicate a differential effect of the hypertensive process on the VP and renin systems in the SHR.