title: Age-dependent increase in arterial smooth muscle calcium in spontaneously hypertensive rats.
abstract: Alterations in cellular calcium metabolism in essential hypertensive and in the SHR have been described. In the present study, particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) was used to get some information on the spatial distribution of Ca2+ in aortas of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive controls aged 1 week, 4 weeks, and 12 weeks. It was found that the Ca2+ content was not elevated in the aortic smooth muscle of SHR aged 1 week (n = 9) as compared to normotensive controls (n = 8) (186.8 +/- 89.9 micrograms Ca2+/g tissue vs 254.0 +/- 73.7 micrograms Ca2+/g tissue. The Ca2+ content was significantly raised in the aortic smooth muscle of SHR aged 4 weeks (n = 9) as compared to 4-weeks-old WKY rats (n = 12) (726.0 +/- 130.4 Ca2+/g tissue vs 440.3 +/- 214.4 Ca2+ micrograms/g tissue and in SHR aged 3 months (n = 15) as compared to WKY rats (n = 12), respectively (3317.0 +/- 734.0 micrograms Ca2+/g tissue vs. 1632.0 +/- 569.6 micrograms Ca2+/g tissue). The results confirm the age-related increase in the arterial Ca2+ content in normotensive rats and demonstrate additionally that this age-related rise in arterial Ca2+ content is accelerated in SHR.
authors.affiliation: Medizinische Universitäts-Poliklinik, Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Federal Republic of Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spieker
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zidek
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: von Bassewitz
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heck
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000378:metabolism; D002118:Calcium / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D006973:Hypertension / Q000378:metabolism*; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D011859:Radiography; D051381:Rats; D011918:Rats, Inbred SHR; D011921:Rats, Inbred WKY; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium