Neuropeptide Y in renovascular models of hypertension in the rat.

Neuropeptide Y content of the kidneys, heart, blood vessels, adrenals and brain stem was determined in both two-kidney, one-clip and one-kidney, one-clip Goldblatt hypertension in rats and compared with levels in age- and sex-matched controls. Renal neuropeptide Y content was significantly reduced in the clipped kidney of rats in both Goldblatt two-kidney, one-clip and Goldblatt one-kidney, one-clip models of hypertension. The content of neuropeptide Y was also reduced but to a lesser extent in the contralateral, non-ischaemic kidney in the two-kidney, one-clip model. In both models of hypertension, neuropeptide Y content in the heart was significantly reduced in the left ventricle and septum but unchanged in the atria and right ventricle wall. There was no significant change in the concentration of neuropeptide Y through the vasculature (major arteries and veins), including the renal artery distal to the clip, or in adrenals and brain stem.