Renal vascular reactivity in the young spontaneously hypertensive rat.

The renal resistance vessels of the mature spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) exhibit increased reactivity to vasoconstrictor agonists. This could be a cause or consequence of hypertension. We have compared vascular reactivity in isolated perfused kidneys from 46-day-old SHR and from normotensive control rats. The amplitude of responses in kidneys from the SHR to angiotensin II, barium chloride, or norepinephrine was not different from the control. Therefore, increased reactivity of the renal vascular smooth muscle cannot be an early pathogenic mechanism in spontaneous hypertension. Responses evoked by 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) were of a greater amplitude in the SHR than in the control kidney. However, this difference was due to an interaction of serotonin with the sympathetic nerves, as it was abolished by treatment of the rats with 6-hydroxydopamine. Responses induced by electrical stimulation of the renal sympathetic nerves were also of greater amplitude in SHR than in control kidneys, both before and after the blockade of norepinephrine disposition mechanisms. Nerve stimulation evoked a greater efflux of endogenous norepinephrine from kidneys of the SHR than from those of control rats. Thus, the increased reactivity of the SHR kidney to renal nerve stimulation is due to an augmented release of endogenous norepinephrine. This could be an important factor in the early development of hypertension.