Histochemical and ultrastructural studies of the adrenal cortex in spontaneously hypertensive rats with high salt solution.

The response of the adrenal cortex in weanling Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR, Okamoto and Aoki) and Wistar-Kyoto Rats (WKR) when given 1% NaCl in drinking water was studied histochemically and electron microscopically. The development of hypertension was accelerated in SHR given 1% NaCl in drinking water. The thickness of the zona glomerulosa in WKR receiving 1% NaCl in drinking water remarkably diminished following the course of experiment and lipid droplets in the zona glomerulosa decreased gradually. The zona glomerulosa cells revealed shrinkage of the cells and a decreased number of mitochondrial cristae were observed at three weeks of experiment. The remaining tubular cristae of mitochondria possessed a milled outline. Golgi apparatus became small and fragmental. Membrane-bounded dense bodies were prominent in the peripheral portion of the cell and around Golgi apparatus. In SHR given 1% NaCl in drinking water, the width of the zona glomerulosa less diminished. A marked decrease in number and size of lipid droplets was seen. However, there was no distinct alteration of cytoplasmic organelles. These morphological changes were discussed from the standpoint of functional state in the zona glomerulosa with relation to the development of hypertension in SHR.