Salt-sensitive hypertension is associated with impaired NO/cGMP signaling. We hypothesized that increased superoxide production by NADPH oxidase and altered endothelial NO synthase (NOS3) phosphorylation determine endothelial dysfunction in hypertension. Experiments tested if NO/cGMP signaling and NOS3 serine phosphorylation are decreased and NADPH oxidase activity is increased in mesenteric ar...

OBJECTIVES We sought to clarify that a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-alpha) activator inhibits myocardial fibrosis and its resultant diastolic dysfunction in hypertensive heart disease, as well as to investigate whether inflammatory mediators through the nuclear factor (NF)-kappa-B pathway are involved in the effects. BACKGROUND Patients with hypertensive heart diseas...

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether brain AT1 receptor stimulation contributes as a hypertensive mechanism to deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertension. Methods: 1) Acute injection: Losartan (1 mg/4 uL) or artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) was injected into the lateral cerebral ventricle (icv) of conscious control uninephrectomized Wistar rats or rats...

BACKGROUND To explore roles of endogenous atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in blood pressure and volume regulation, we examined the effects of a newly developed ANP antagonist, HS-142-1 (HS) in deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertensive rats. METHODS AND RESULTS We examined 1) the effects of HS on ANP- or brain natriuretic peptide (BNP)-induced reductions in renal vascular resistanc...

Uric acid (UA) results from xanthine oxidase (XO) catabolism of xanthine and is the final product of purine catabolism in humans. In this species, hyperuricemia is associated with gout, nephropathy, and increased cardiovascular disease risk. Although the effects of hyperuricemia in vascular biology are overall controversial, UA has been described as an antioxidant and as potentially improving e...

We evaluated the development of arterial hypertension, cardiac function, and collagen deposition, as well as the level of components of the renin-angiotensin system in the heart of transgenic rats that overexpress an angiotensin (Ang)-(1-7)–producing fusion protein, TGR(A1-7)3292 (TG), which induces a lifetime increase in circulating levels of this peptide. After 30 days of the induction of the...

Mineralocorticoids modify salt balance by both stimulating salt intake and inhibiting salt loss. Renal salt retention is accomplished by upregulation of reabsorption, an effect partially mediated by serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1 (SGK1). The present study explored the contribution of SGK1 to the regulation of renal function, salt intake, and blood pressure during mineralocorticoid...

Background Progressive hypertension and deteriorating renal function are hallmarks of cardio-renal syndromes. Historically, the deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt model has been used to assess the therapeutic potential of antihypertensives in the setting of low renin and volume-dependent hypertension. Dahl-salt-sensitive (Dahl-SS) rats represent a genetic model of volumedependent hypertens...

Comparison of norepinephrine (NE) sensitivity in caudal arterial muscle of rats with three forms of hypertension showed that there was no increase in either DOCA-salt or Dahl genetic hypertension, in contrast to the increased NE sensitivity found in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). In hypertension induced by deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt treatment, as in Dahl genetic hypertensio...

This study was designed to assess whether blocking endogenous endothelin with anti-endothelin antibodies could alter the development of hypertension in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and DOCA-salt treated rats. Specific anti-endothelin antibodies were produced in rabbits by standard methods. The amount of anti-endothelin antibodies employed in this study blocked the hyperten...