Hypertension after brainstem (A1) lesions in normal rats and in rats with adrenalectomy, sympathectomy or diabetes insipidus.

Lesions of the ventrolateral medulla coinciding with the A1 noradrenaline cell group, in either the rabbit or the rat, cause hypertension and bradycardia accompanied by 50-fold increases in plasma vasopressin and adrenaline and a two-to-four-fold increase in plasma noradrenaline. Following adrenalectomy in normal rats, the A1 hypertension and bradycardia were unchanged. In Brattleboro rats with diabetes insipidus, A1 hypertension was not altered but the bradycardia was reduced by 40%. In Brattleboro rats subjected to adrenalectomy, the hypertension was reduced by 50%. In normal rats, chemical sympathectomy with intravenous 6-hydroxydopamine (6OHDA) reduced the hypertension by about 50%, and when combined with adrenalectomy it abolished the hypertension altogether. In Brattleboro rats, 6OHDA reduced the hypertension after A1 lesions by about 40%. We suggest that A1 hypertension is predominantly mediated through increased activity of sympathetic vasoconstrictor nerves, and that circulating adrenaline and vasopressin only make a minor contribution to the increase in pressure.