Role of endothelin‐1 and the ETA receptor in the maintenance of deoxycorticosterone acetate‐salt‐induced hypertension

1 To search for a possible role for endothelin‐1 (ET‐1) in deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)‐salt‐induced hypertension, we examined changes in concentration of ET‐1 in vascular and renal tissue in DOCA‐salt hypertensive rats and evaluated the antihypertensive effect of the ETA receptor antagonist, FR139317. 2 There was an increase in aortic immunoreactive‐ET (IR‐ET) concentrations in association with hypertension‐induced treatment. There were no significant changes in ET‐1 levels in the kidney with DOCA‐salt treatment. 3 In DOCA‐salt hypertensive rats, a significant correlation (r = 0.83, P