Plasma-derived serum from hypertensive rats differentially increases growth of cultured arteriolar smooth muscle

A role for humoral factors in the arterial hypertrophy accompanying hypertension has been suggested, but direct evidence is lacking. We measured [3H]thymidine incorporation of growth-arrested smooth muscle cells, cultured from renal preglomerular arterioles of normal rats and exposed for 12 h to 10% platelet-poor plasma-derived serum (PDS) from male rats with early, benign, one-kidney, one-clip hypertension and paired one-kidney normotensive control rats. In the presence of low background concentrations (1-2%) of fetal calf serum, PDS from hypertensive rats increased [3H]thymidine incorporation up to 117% more than PDS from normotensive rats (P < 0.0001). Results were similar for the < 10,000 mol wt fraction of PDS and for PDS from rats drinking saline vs. water or eating a 7% (high) vs. a 0.45% NaCl diet. PDS from hypertensive rats also differentially increased smooth muscle cell proliferation and c-fos mRNA expression. Platelet-derived growth factor levels in PDS were undetectable (< 0.17 ng/ml). This study provides evidence for altered concentrations of sodium chloride-unresponsive plasma factor or factors in hypertension that result in enhanced growth of arteriolar smooth muscle cells.