Blood pressure control and erythrocytosis in rats: theory and observations

We compared some of our latest experiments on blood pressure control and erythrocytosis in spontaneously hypertensive rats with Gaar's computer-simulated studies, which suggest that erythrocytosis is a key to understanding the hemodynamic changes in hypertension. We tested two of Gaar's several predictions: (i) peripheral vascular resistance decreases when the feedback control of erythrocytosis is blocked and (ii) in primary hypertension, blood volume is increased slightly. We also studied the interrelation of systolic blood pressure and plasma renin substrate in spontaneously hypertensive rats, and the effect of diet on renin, blood pressure, and erythrocytosis. Our data showed that (i) on a percentage basis the renin system supports blood pressure essentially in the same manner in normal and hypertensive rats, (ii) peripheral vascular resistance decreased when erythrocytosis was partially blocked by feeding a low-iron diet, (iii) blood volume was similar in normal and hypertensive rats, and (iv) dextrin stimulates plasma renin, packed cell volume, and blood pressure in hypertensive rats. We conclude that blood pressure and erythrocytosis are interrelated, that the combined data of stimulated and experimental studies support the notion that primary hypertension is a blood-vessel adaptation in response to a renal energy need that may require additional oxygen.