Studies on the role of vasopressin in blood pressure control of spontaneously hypertensive rats with established hypertension (SHR, stroke-prone strain).

We investigated the role of arginine-vasopressin (AVP) in maintaining the blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rats (stroke-prone strain) with established hypertension (22--28 weeks of age). In comparison with normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats, plasma AVP concentrations of SH rats with benign hypertension (BH) were elevated twofold and in rats with severe or malignant hypertension (S-MH), fourfold. The height of the blood pressure was quantitatively related to plasma AVP in both BH and S-MH rats, the overall correlation coefficient being 0.66 (p less than 0.001). The intravenous injection of a specific AVP antiserum into conscious and unrestrained rats lowered blood pressure in 4 BH rats by 48 +/- 14 mm Hg and in 4 S-MH rats by 78 +/- 10 mm Hg and had only a marginal effect in 4 normotensive WKY rats. Infusion of saralasin did not lower blood pressure in WKY and BH rats and reduced blood pressure in only 2 of 7 S-MH rats tetsted (by 15 and 20 mm Hg). During AVP infusion the blood pressure of SH rats increased more (p less than 0.001) and heart rate fell much less (p less than 0.001) than in WKY rats. It is concluded that in SH rats with established hypertension, plasma AVP plays an important role in the maintenance of high blood pressure, while the renin-angiotensin system plays a minor or no role.