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Hypertension, Vol 10, 390-395, Copyright © 1987 by American Heart Association

ARTICLES

Assessment of the permeability of the blood-retinal barrier in hypertensive rats

S Lightman, E Rechthand, C Latker, A Palestine and S Rapoport
Laboratory of Immunology, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.

We assessed the permeability surface area products at the blood-retinal barrier and blood-brain barrier to sucrose (molecular weight, 340) and microperoxidase (molecular weight, 2000) following acute hypertension induced by metaraminol in Wistar-Kyoto rats (controls) and during chronic hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats. In acute hypertension, the permeability surface area product for sucrose was increased at the blood-retinal barrier and at the blood-brain barrier over control values (p less than 0.02), and the vessels became leaky to microperoxidase. In chronic hypertension, the permeability of the blood- retinal barrier to sucrose was increased over that in control animals (p less than 0.02), whereas the permeability of the blood-brain barrier was unaffected. Neither barrier leaked microperoxidase. These results indicate that the blood-brain barrier and the blood-retinal barrier are similarly affected in acute hypertension and that in chronic hypertension, the blood-brain barrier is unaffected whereas the blood- retinal barrier is rendered more permeable to small, but not large, solutes.

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