Arterial compliance and distensibility in spontaneously hypertensive rats.
OBJECTIVE
These studies were undertaken in intact spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) to assess whether the elastic behavior of conduit arteries changes as a function of age.


METHODS
We studied 16-week-old (n = 10) and 36-week-old (n = 10) SHR under fluothane anesthesia. Diameter-, compliance-, and distensibility-pressure curves were established non-invasively for the carotid artery by means of a high-precision ultrasonic echo-tracking device. Intra-arterial pressure was monitored simultaneously in the contralateral carotid artery.


RESULTS
Mean blood pressure was 197 +/- 6 and 185 +/- 3 mmHg (mean +/- SEM) in the younger and older SHR, respectively. No significant difference was observed between the two groups of rats in the diameter-, compliance- and distensibility-pressure curves.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that the elastic behavior of elastic arteries is not necessarily altered with aging in rats with genetic hypertension.
Waeber
B
B
Hypertension Division, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Hayoz
D
D
Evéquoz
D
D
Brunner
H R
HR
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002342:Carotid Artery, External / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D003187:Compliance; D051381:Rats; D011918:Rats, Inbred SHR / Q000502:physiology*; D014463:Ultrasonography