Evidence of early structural change in the artery wall of two-kidney one-clip Goldblatt hypertensive rats.

Vascular structural changes were studied during the development of two-kidney one-clip renal hypertension. The weight of the arteries and the concentration and total amount of ribonucleic acid, deoxyribonucleic acid, alkali-soluble proteins, collagen and elastin of the vascular wall were measured. Tritiated thymidine uptake was also determined 15 and 30 days after clipping. Hypertension developed in 58% of the animals while the rest remained normotensive. A significant increase in artery weight and in the total amount of nucleic acids and proteins was found in hypertensive rats. The uptake of 3H thymidine by the arteries of hypertensive rats was significantly increased 15 days after clipping. This increment showed a significant correlation with blood pressure levels. Present data seem to indicate that the increase in vessel wall dimensions observed is partly due to an increase in the number of smooth muscle cells during the acute phase; this alteration appears to be mainly due to the rise in blood pressure.