Antihypertensive effect of progesterone in rats with mineralocorticoid-induced hypertension

Uninephrectomized, saline-fed male Sprague-Dawley rats were given DOCA 5 mg per week alone or together with progesterone 20 mg per week for 6 weeks (phase I). Subsequently, the doses of DOCA and progesterone were doubled and the rats were studied for an additional 6 wk (phase II). Progesterone prevented DOCA-induced hypertension during phase I. Phase II blood pressures were higher in DOCA-progesterone-treated animals than in controls, but remained lower than in animals treated with DOCA alone. At the end of phase II the animals were killed, and blood samples and skeletal muscle samples were taken for analysis of electrolyte content. DOCA-treated animals were found to have an increased rate of potassium excretion, an increase in muscle sodium concentration, and a decrease in muscle potassium concentration compared to the controls. Progesterone treatment significantly blunted the DOCA-induced changes in muscle electrolyte concentrations and increased the rate of sodium excretion. No hypotensive effect was observed when progesterone in doses similar to those of phase I was administered to spontaneously hypertensive rats. Thus, in experimental mineralocorticoid hypertension, the hypotensive effect of progesterone appears to correlate closely with its mineralocorticoid antagonistic properties.