Sodium-potassium-adenosine triphosphatase in nephron segments of spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Sodium pump activity of blood vessels has been reported to decrease in several animal models of hypertension. We studied sodium-potassium-adenosine triphosphatase (Na-K-ATPase) activity of renal tubular segments in 12-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats and in age-matched Wistar-Kyoto normotensive rats. The enzyme activity of the individual nephron segments was determined by a microfluorometric assay in which ATP hydrolysis is coupled with NADH oxidation. In the spontaneously hypertensive rats, systolic blood pressure was significantly higher (181 +/- 3 mm Hg) than in the Wistar-Kyoto rats (134 +/- 2 mm Hg). However, there was no difference in mean Na-K-ATPase activity in any of the nephron segments from the spontaneously hypertensive compared with the Wistar-Kyoto group. It is concluded that Na-K-ATPase activity does not change in any of the nephron segments with spontaneous hypertension.