Chronic arterial hypertension impedes glioma growth: a multiparametric MRI study in the rat

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive brain tumor and is almost always fatal. These tumors are highly vascularized and angiogenesis is one of the pre-eminent mechanisms underlying their growth. Chronic arterial hypertension (CAH) is a common and worldwide pathology that markedlly alters the structure and function of the vasculature. Yet, essential hypertension is associated in the brain with potential locally impaired vasoreactivity, disturbed perfusion supply and hypoxia phenomena. Even though CAH is a global burden and has an important impact on brain function, nothing is known about the way this frequent pathology would interact with the evolution of glioma. We sought to determine if arterial hypertension influences gliobastoma growth. In the present study, rat glioma C6 tumor cells were implanted in the caudate-putamen of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) or their normotensive controls, the Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. The evolution of the tumor was sequentially analyzed by multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging and the inflammatory response was examined by histochemistry. We found that CAH significantly attenuates the growth of the tumor as, at 21 days, the volume of the tumor was 85.4±34.7 and 126.1±28.8 mm(3), respectively, in hypertensive and normotensive rats (P