Vasoactive Substances in Blood and Urine of DCA Hypertensive Rats

Abstract

The effect of intravenous injection of rat anephrotensin on rats treated with DCA for periods of up to 30 weeks was studied. It was found that in these animals, anephrotensin raises blood pressure, whereas in controls it acts as a depressor. Blood serum of DCA-treated rats yielded greater anephrotensin activity after acid incubation than did that of controls. Treated animals excreted, through the kidneys, more anephrotensin-like substance than controls. The pressor effect of the homogenized kidneys of these animals was less than that of controls; this is attributed to decrease in renin. Higher anephrotensin yield and the pressor response to anephrotensin were found to occur previous to the onset of hypertension; this suggests a causal relationship with the hypertension-provoking mechanism. The observations point to a similarity between DCA-treated and nephrectomized rats.