Journal
PHARMACOLOGY
Volume 62, Issue 1, Pages 29-35Publisher
KARGER
DOI: 10.1159/000056069
Keywords
gap junctions; muscle, smooth, vascular; hypertension, experimental, genetic; heptanol, octanol; calcium channels
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This study tests the hypothesis that contractile responses in aortae of hypertensive rats are more dependent on gap junctional communication compared to those from normotensive rats. The experimental approach was pharmacological, using inhibitors of gap junctional activity (heptanol and octanol). Two models of experimental hypertension were characterized: (1) mineralocorticoid (DOCA)-hypertensive rats and (2) stroke-prone spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHRSP), Vessels from DOCA-hypertensive rats showed a greater relaxation to heptanol and octanol, particularly when precontracted with phenylephrine, compared to sham-operated animals. Octanol-induced relaxation in aortic segments from SHRSP did not differ from normotensive values regardless of the agonist used to cause contraction, These results suggest that in DOCA hypertension, gap junctional communication and voltage-operated calcium channels are differentially regulated, which could explain in part the changes in vascular reactivity observed in mineralocorticoid hypertension. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available