A comparison of cardiac reactivity and beta-adrenoceptor number and affinity between aorta-coarcted hypertensive and normotensive rats.

1 The effects of noradrenaline (NA) and isoprenaline on isolated atria from aorta-coarcted hypertensive rats (AHR) at early (6 day) and chronic (28 day) stages of hypertension were studied and compared with time-matched, sham-operated, normotensive rats (SNR). The number and affinity of beta-adrenoceptor ((-)-[3H]-dihydroalprenolol binding sites) were also studied in cardiac membranes prepared from these animals. 2 Six and 28 days after complete ligation of the abdominal aorta between the two renal arteries, rats became hypertensive with significantly greater arterial blood pressures than time-matched SNR. 3 At both stages of hypertension, the atrial inotropic or chronotropic effects of NA and isoprenaline from hypertensive rats were similar to time-matched SNR. Moreover, no differences in atrial reactivity were observed between the early and chronic stages of hypertension. 4 Irrespective of the stage of hypertension, cardiac membranes from the AHR contained the same number of beta-adrenoceptors as time-matched SNR. In addition, the receptor affinity for the radioligand within each group was equivalent. However, the chronic stage hypertensive rats and their time-matched controls contained fewer beta-adrenoceptors and these receptors had greater affinity for the radioligand when compared with cardiac membranes from rats at the early stage of hypertension and their controls. 5 The observed equivalent chronotropic and inotropic responses to NA and isoprenaline between the hypertensive and normotensive rats in both stages of hypertension may be explained in terms of similar receptor number and receptor binding affinity. 6 The reduced number of beta-adrenoceptors with greater binding affinity in day 28 normotensive or hypertensive rats may be a compensatory mechanism for these animals to maintain normal cardiac function with increasing age.