Altered cardiac noradrenaline stores in DOCA-salt hypertensive rats

1. The storage of noradrenaline (NA) in hearts of DOCA-salt hypertensive rats was examined after in vivo administration of labelled NA. 2. The cardiac NA concentration and the neuronal NA storage capacity were reduced in these rats compared with normotensive controls. The extent of reduction was dependent on the duration of hypertension. 3. These findings are similar to observations on spontaneously hypertensive rats and support the hypothesis that storage of the cardiac sympathetic transmitter is impaired in DOCA-salt hypertension.