| Abstract: | Cardiac hypertrophy develops during the course of blood pressure elevation in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and is associated with defective calcium transport by cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). AT 20 weeks of age, calcium uptake is reduced in SHRs (42 +/- 1.3 vs 64 +/- 1.6 nmol X mg-1 X min-1 in age-matched normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats, P less than 0.01), while Ca2+ ATPase activity is enhanced (44 +/- 1.1 vs 35 +/- 0.7 nmol X mg-1 X min-1 in WKYs, P = 0.02); this results in low stoichiometry between calcium uptake and ATP hydrolysis in SHRs. The steady-state levels of the phosphoprotein intermediate EP] of the transport ATPase are higher in normotensive rats (0.97 +/- 0.1 vs 0.67 +/- 0.08 nmol X mg-1 in SHRs, P less than 0.01) but the Ca2+- and ATP-dependency are similar in the two groups. In order to study the relative roles of hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy in the depression of SHR function, 20-week old SHRs and normotensive rats were treated for 10 weeks with either hydralazine (100 mg X litre-1) or alpha-methyldopa (8 g X litre-1). Both therapeutic regimens resulted in near normalisation of blood pressure of SHRs (hydralazine: 18.1 +/- 0.5 kPa 136 +/- 4 mmHg]; alpha-methyldopa 17.6 +/- kPa 132 +/- 3 mmHg]). Regression of cardiac hypertrophy, however, was seen only in the alpha-methyldopa-treated group, as judged by changes in left ventricular weight, RNA/DNA ratio, and hydroxyproline content. Furthermore, improvement in calcium transport capacity by the SHR, as reflected in higher calcium uptake and stoichiometric ratio between uptake and ATP hydrolysis, was found after alpha-methyldopa, but not hydralazine treatment. These results indicate that reversal of cardiac hypertrophy is required for improvement in calcium transport by cardiac SR after antihypertensive therapy of SHRs. |
