Effects of colchicine on hexokinase activity in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei of spontaneously hypertensive and normotensive rats.

The effects of intracerebroventricular (ICV) colchicine (70 micrograms per rat) on systolic pressures and levels of hexokinase activity in the hypothalamic paraventricular (PVH) and supraoptic (SON) nuclei were investigated in adult normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). One day after colchicine injection, systolic pressures had dropped significantly in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, and SHR; the largest decrease was seen in SHR. Postinjection pressures in SHR were within the normotensive range. No further decreases were observed two days after injections. Quantitative analysis of hexokinase activity in control animals verified that the parvo- and magnocellular PVH (but not SON) of SHR contained significantly lower levels of hexokinase than in WKY or SD rats. Two days after colchicine injection, hexokinase activities in pPVH and mPVH were similar in all three strains. Activity had decreased significantly in SD and WKY rats. In SHR, no differences between control and postinjection values were found. Hexokinase activity in SON was significantly decreased to the same extent in all strains. As metabolic activity in the pPVH, mPVH, and SON decreased after colchicine injection in normotensive rats whereas no such decreases occurred in the pPVH and mPVH of SHR, the findings suggest that colchicine may have differential effects on the metabolic activity of specific cell groups in brain depending on the physiological state of the animal.