title: Role of vascular structure in blood pressure development of the spontaneously hypertensive rat.
abstract: We measured the characteristics of isolated resistance vessels taken from mesenteric, renal and cerebral vascular beds of 14 to 18-week-old spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. Mesenteric resistance vessels of SHR/WKY F2-hybrid rats were also investigated. All resistance vessels in the SHR had increased media:lumen ratios and increased media volumes when fully relaxed, while their contractility was increased. In the hybrid animals, preliminary analysis indicated a correlation between the resistance vessel media:lumen ratio and blood pressure, and also between vascular contractility and blood pressure. The results are consistent with the possibility that the abnormal structure of SHR resistance vessels is associated with one of the factors that produce hypertension in this animal.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Mulvany
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D011918:Rats, Inbred SHR / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D011921:Rats, Inbred WKY; D014655:Vascular Resistance