Cardiovascular responses of conscious DOCA-salt hypertensive rats to acute intracerebroventricular and intravenous administration of captopril.

The effect on blood pressure and heart rate, following administration of the same intracerebroventricular (ivt) and intravenous (iv) doses of captopril, was compared in freely moving DOCA-salt hypertensive rats, with chronically implanted ivt, iv and intraarterial cannulae. Ivt captopril (500 micrograms) in DOCA-salt rats showed an initial pressor response followed by a long lasting hypotensive effect. The ivt effect was greater than that following iv administration. No effect was observed in normotensive controls either ivt or iv. ASA or naloxone pretreatments significantly lowered the captopril hypotensive effect, thus suggesting an involvement of prostaglandin and opioid systems in blood pressure elevation in "non renin dependent" hypertension.