Angiotensin receptors and pressor hyperresponsiveness in renal prehypertensive rabbits.

This study consisted of five different experiments with conscious rabbits. In experiment 1, the angiotensin II (ANG II) antagonist [Sar1-Ala8]ANG II infused iv into one-kidney rabbits with renal artery stenosis (RAS) of 3 days' duration, at a dose that blocked pressor responses to ANG II, did not decrease the exaggerated pressor responses to norepinephrine (NE). In experiment 2, captopril infused iv into one-kidney, 3-day, RAS rabbits blocked pressor hyperresponsiveness to NE, and the concurrent infusion of [Sar1-Ala8]ANG II did not reestablish pressor hyperresponsiveness, indicating that this ANG II analogue had no agonistic action to promote hyperresponsiveness to NE. In experiment 3, infusion of ANG II at a subpressor dose (6.7 pmol . min-1 . kg body wt-1) into normal rabbits resulted in pressor hyperresponsiveness to NE, which was blocked by [Sar1-Ala8]ANG II. Experiment 4 involved infusing [Sar1-Ala8]ANG II or [Sar1-Ile8]ANG II at various doses into 3-day RAS rabbits, to determine their abilities to attenuate the pressor responses to ANG II (100 ng/kg) and the pressor hyper-responses to NE (800 ng . min-1 . kg-1). [Sar1-Ile8]ANG II decreased the ANG II pressor responses at an ID50 dose of 64 +/- 5 (SEM) pmol . min-1 . kg-1 and attenuated the NE pressor hyper-response at an ID50 dose of 65 +/- 5 pmol . min-1 . kg-1; [Sar1-Ala8]ANG II diminished the ANG II pressor response at an ID50 dose of 757 +/- 247 and the NE pressor hyper-response at an ID50 dose of 10,061 +/- 944 pmol . min-1 . kg-1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A fast-acting humoral factor mediates pressor hyperresponsiveness in deoxycorticosterone-salt rabbits.

Six rabbits were sham operated and were given water to drink (sham-water group); six additional rabbits were sham operated and were given saline to drink (sham-salt group); another six rabbits received an implant of deoxycorticosterone (DOCA) and were given water to drink (DOCA-water group); a final group of six rabbits received implants of DOCA and were given saline to drink (DOCA-salt group). Two weeks later, all four groups of rabbits had approximately the same mean arterial pressures, and the sham-salt, DOCA-water, and DOCA-salt groups all had plasma renin activity values less than the sham-water group. The DOCA-salt group had greater pressor responses to norepinephrine (NE) at several doses than did the other three groups of rabbits. In another group of six sham-water and six DOCA-salt rabbits, measurements of cardiac output before and during infusions of NE at 800 ng/min/kg body wt revealed no changes in cardiac output before or during NE infusion, but the DOCA-salt group had significantly greater increases in mean arterial pressure and total peripheral resistance during NE than did the sham-water group. In another group of six DOCA-salt rabbits, the pressor response to several doses of NE were determined during infusion of the angiotensin II (AII) antagonist, [Sar1, Ile8] AII; this AII antagonist failed to alter the enhanced pressor responses to NE. A final experiment examined pressor responses to NE in six normal rabbits before and after cross circulation of blood with six DOCA-salt rabbits. After blood cross circulation the normal rabbits had exaggerated pressor responses to NE at 5, 15, and 30 min, but not at 60 min. Similar cross-circulation experiments between six pairs of normal rabbits did not show any transfer of pressor hyperresponsiveness. These studies indicated that pressor and vascular hyperresponsiveness in DOCA-salt rabbits is conveyed by a fast-acting hormonal factor and that AII probably is not involved in mediating this hyperresponsiveness.

Pressor responsiveness to norepinephrine in rabbits with adrenal perturbations.

The purpose of this study was to examine pressor responsiveness in a rabbit model with adrenal perturbation. Adrenals in rabbits were stabbed with a needle, and the rabbits were given water (adrenal-water group) or 0.9% NaCl (adrenal-salt) to drink; additional rabbits were sham-operated and given water (sham-water group) or 0.9% NaCl (sham-salt group) to drink. Acute experiments were performed two weeks later on conscious rabbits. All four groups of rabbits had the same body weights, mean arterial pressures, heart rates, and plasma concentrations of Na+ and K+. Intravenous norepinephrine infusions at several doses produced greater pressor responses in the adrenal-water and adrenal-salt groups than in the sham-water or sham-salt groups. Administration 1-sarcosine-8-isoleucine angiotensin II ([Sar1, Ile8]Ang II) did not alter the pressor responses to norepinephrine in either the sham-water or the adrenal-salt groups. Cross-circulation of blood between adrenal-salt donor rabbits and normal recipient rabbits at 10 ml/min for 5 min resulted in enhanced pressor responses to norepinephrine in the recipients at 5 min after the cross-circulation. Similar cross-circulation experiments between sham-water donors and normal recipients did not alter the pressor responses to norepinephrine in the recipients. These studies demonstrated that rabbits with adrenal perturbations have pressor hyper-responsiveness to norepinephrine, which does not involve angiotensin II mechanisms, but is mediated by a fast-acting blood-borne factor.

Pressor hyperresponsiveness in saline-infused rabbits.

Conscious rabbits infused intravenously (i.v.) with isotonic saline at 1.5 to 1.8 ml/min for 24 hours had greater pressor responses to norepinephrine (NE) than did normal control rabbits. Infusion of the angiotension II (ANG II) antagonist [Sar1, Ile8] ANG II did not decrease the exaggerated pressor responses to NE in saline-infused rabbits. Measurements of cardiac output (CO) as well as the pressor responses to NE before and after saline infusion revealed that, although saline infusion increased the CO and decreased total peripheral resistance (TPR), CO did not change during NE infusion either before or after saline infusion, but NE produced significantly greater increases in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and TPR after saline infusion than before the saline infusion. The cross-circulation of blood at 10 ml/min for 5 minutes between saline-infused donor rabbits and normal recipient rabbits resulted in pressor hyperresponsiveness to NE in the normal recipients. Similar cross-circulation experiments between pairs of normal rabbits did not alter the pressor responses to NE. These studies provided direct evidence that expansion of body fluid volumes by saline infusion results in pressor and vascular hyperresponsiveness. There was no evidence to indicate that ANG II was involved in the mechanisms producing this pressor hyperresponsiveness. Some circulating hormonal factor, however, was involved in mediating the pressor hyperresponsiveness following saline infusion. The results of this study are compatible with the concept that natriuretic hormone may play a role in promoting pressor hyperresponsiveness in saline-expanded animals.

Humoral factor in pressor hyperresponsiveness in renal prehypertensive rabbits.

Prehypertensive rabbits with renal artery stenosis of 3 days' duration (one-kidney, one clip) are known to have increased pressor responses to norepinephrine and vasopressin; this pressor hyperresponsiveness is restored to normal by the angiotensin II (AII) antagonist, [ Sar1, Ile8 ] AII, even though plasma renin activity (PRA) and plasma AII concentrations are not elevated. In the present study, the cross-circulation of blood between conscious one-kidney, 3-day renal artery stenosis rabbits and conscious normal rabbits resulted in the transfer of pressor hyperresponsiveness to the normal rabbits, although both groups of rabbits had normal values for PRA. A similar cross-circulation of blood between one-kidney rabbits without renal artery stenosis and normal rabbits did not alter the pressor responsiveness of the normal rabbits to norepinephrine. It was concluded that a circulating humoral factor is involved in mediating pressor hyperresponsiveness in 3-day renal artery stenosis rabbits. To evaluate the interrelationship between AII and the hormonal hyperresponsiveness factor, an additional experiment was performed in which blood was cross-circulated between one-kidney, 3-day renal artery stenosis rabbits and normal rabbits, with the normal rabbits receiving [ Sar1, Ile8 ] AII immediately following cross-circulation. Administration of this AII antagonist to the normal rabbits prevented them from showing pressor hyperresponsiveness following the cross-circulation of blood. It is concluded that in this prehypertensive renal artery stenosis model the humoral hyperresponsiveness factor exerts its effect through AII mechanisms, rather than AII acting to increase the release or secretion of the hyperresponsiveness factor.

Fluid volumes and pressor responsiveness in two-kidney rabbits with renal artery stenosis.

This study examined body fluid volumes, the pressor responses to norepinephrine (NE), and the cardiovascular responses to NE before and during infusion of an angiotensin II (ANG II) antagonist in two-kidney rabbits with unilateral renal artery stenosis (RAS) of 3 and 30 day duration. Three separate experiments were performed. In the first experiment, plasma volume, extracellular fluid volume, and total body water were measured by the distribution volumes of radioiodinated serum albumin, 35SO4, and tritiated water, respectively. No differences were seen for any of these volumes between the 3- or 30-day RAS rabbits and their controls. In the second experiment, pressor responses to infusions of several doses of NE were examined; rabbits with 3- and 30-day RAS had exaggerated pressor responses to all doses of NE when compared with the control rabbits. In the third experiment, infusion of NE at 800 ng.min-1.kg body wt-1 resulted in more pronounced increases in mean arterial pressure and total peripheral resistance (TPR) in the 3- and 30-day RAS rabbits than in the controls; after infusion of [Sar1-Ile8] ANG II the increases in mean arterial pressure and TPR during NE infusion were blunted and were of the same magnitude as in the control group. In all experiments the 30-day RAS rabbits were hypertensive, whereas the 3-day RAS rabbits were normotensive; also, plasma renin activity (PRA) values were normal in both the 3- and 30-day RAS groups. These studies demonstrated that increases in body fluid volumes are not necessary for pressor and vascular hyperresponsiveness probably is mediated by ANG II, despite normal PRA values.

Absence of an antihypertensive effect of 12 hour infusions of an angiotensin antagonist in chronic renal hypertensive rabbits.

The effect of a continuous 12-hour infusion of a saline solution of the angiotensin II antagonist, [Sar1, Ile8] angiotensin II, on mean arterial pressure was studied in 11 conscious New Zealand white rabbits with hypertension induced by renal artery stenosis and contralateral nephrectomy, and in 11 normotensive control rabbits. Also, the effect on mean arterial pressure of infusing saline alone for 12 hours was examined in 4 hypertensive rabbits and in 8 normotensive controls. There were no significant differences in the changes in mean arterial pressure among the 4 groups of rabbits at any hourly period during these infusions. These studies were unable to provide evidence that angiotensin II is involved in maintaining the elevated arterial pressure in this hypertensive animal model.