title: Central cardiovascular action of urotensin II in spontaneously hypertensive rats.
abstract: We have previously reported that urotensin II acts on the central nervous system to increase blood pressure in normotensive rats. In the present study, we have determined the central cardiovascular action of urotensin II in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of urotensin II elicited a dose-dependent increase in blood pressure in both SHR and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). The changes in mean arterial pressure induced by ICV urotensin II at doses of 1 and 10 nmol in the WKY were 8 +/- 2 and 23 +/- 3 mmHg, respectively. ICV administration of urotensin II caused significantly greater increases in blood pressure in SHR (16 +/- 3 mmHg at 1 nmol and 35 +/- 3 mmHg at 10 nmol, respectively) compared with those in WKY. Urotensin II (10 nmol) elicited significant and comparable increases in heart rate in SHR (107 +/- 10 bpm) and WKY (101 +/- 21 bpm). Plasma epinephrine concentrations after ICV administration of 10 nmol urotensin II were 203 +/- 58 pmol/ml in SHR and 227 +/- 47 pmol/ml in WKY, which tended to be higher than those in artificial cerebrospinal fluid-injected rats (73+/- 7 and 87 +/- 28 pmol/ml, respectively, p < 0.1). The immunoreactivity of urotensin II receptor GPR 14 was expressed extensively in the glial cells within the brainstem, hypothalamus, and thalamus. These results suggest that central urotensin II may play a role in the pathogenesis of hypertension in SHR. Since GPR 14 was expressed in the glial cells of the brain, urotensin II may act as a neuromodulator to regulate blood pressure.
authors: Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. eiko@intmed2.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors: Yingzi
authors: Y
authors: Lin
authors: Takuya
authors: T
authors: Tsuchihashi
authors: Kiyoshi
authors: K
authors: Matsumura
authors: Masayo
authors: M
authors: Fukuhara
authors: Yusuke
authors: Y
authors: Ohya
authors: Koji
authors: K
authors: Fujii
authors: Mitsuo
authors: M
authors: Iida
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000378:metabolism; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006973:Hypertension / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D051381:Rats; D011918:Rats, Inbred SHR; D011921:Rats, Inbred WKY; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000378:metabolism; D014579:Urotensins / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D014579:Urotensins; C473142:Uts2r protein, rat; C029677:urotensin II