Lowering of blood pressure in chronic aortic coarctate hypertensive rats with anti-digoxin antiserum.

A marked lowering of arterial blood pressure was observed in chronic aortic coarctate (CAC) hypertensive rats after intravenous administration of anti-digoxin antiserum. The hypotensive effect lasted for about 30 min after dosing. In contrast to the pronounced changes observed following treatment with anti-digoxin antiserum in CAC rats, only a transient pressor effect was observed in both water- and saline-drinking CAC rats following injection of normal goat serum. In addition, a transient depressor effect was observed in normotensive rats after injection of anti-digoxin antiserum. The results of this study provide additional evidence indicating that an endogenous digoxin-like substance may play an important role in the maintenance of chronic low-renin hypertension induced by aortic coarctation.