Calcium accumulation and enzymatic activities of subcellular fractions from aortas and ventricles of genetically hypertensive rats.

Subcellular fractions were obtained from aortas and ventricles of 6-month-old spontaneously hypertensive and normotensive Wistar rats by the use of differential and sucrose density gradient centrifugation. These preparations were studied to determine what alterations in calcium accumulation and enzymatic activities might be associated with hypertension. The total amount of calcium accumulation (in the presence of ATP and 17 muM free calcium) by the plasma membrane-enriched fraction from hypertensive rat aortas significantly less than that from normotensive rats (11.3 +/- 0.4 vs 16.2 +/- 1.6 mumol of calcium/g of protein, n = 8). In contrast the specific activities of the plasma membrane marker enzymes, 5'-nucleotidase and phosphodiesterase I, were 80% and 40% greater, respectively, in the hypertensive than in the normotensive fractions. On the other hand, various fractions from ventricles of the two types of rats were generally similar in enzyme activities and calcium accumulation. The decreased rate of relaxation of aortas from spontaneously hypertensive rats may be caused by the decreased rate of calcium transport demonstrated in this study.