Heightened blood pressure and drinking responsiveness to intracerebroventricularly applied angiotensins in the spontaneously hypertensive rat

The effects of bolus intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injections of angiotensin II (AII) and angiotensin III (AIII) on blood pressure and water consumption were investigated in Okamoto-Aoki spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) normotensive controls. Heightened sensitivity to i.c.v. administered AII and AIII was observed in the SHR as compared with WKY and SD strains for both pressor and drinking responses. The results are consistent with the notion that the SHR has a genetic defect that directly perturbs central angiotensinergic transmission. Two types of defects appear plausible, an alteration in the central angiotensin receptor and its associated transduction system and/or a decrease in the efficiency of signal termination. The present results are interpreted to primarily support the second possibility that a dysfunction in central aminopeptidase activity results in an extended life expectancy of angiotensin, and perhaps other peptides, that contribute to the hypersensitivity seen in the SHR.