Hypertension, Vol 5, 468-475, Copyright © 1983 by American Heart Association
RL Kline, KP Patel, J Ciriello and PF Mercer
The role of renal nerves in influencing the control of arterial pressure
was studied in Wistar rats with aortic depressor nerve (ADN) transection.
Renal denervation prevented or reversed the normal increase in arterial
pressure seen after ADN transection. This effect was not due to an effect
on the renin-angiotensin system, as the elevated arterial pressure after
ADN section in rats with renal nerves intact was shown to be due to
increased alpha-adrenergic activity. Food and water intake and urine output
decreased significantly in both renal- denervated and sham-denervated rats
after ADN section, suggesting that a pressure diuresis mechanism was not
responsible for preventing the rise in pressure in renal-denervated rats.
In another study, the concentration of norepinephrine in skeletal muscle
and hypothalamus at 0 and 8 hours after inhibition of tyrosine hydroxylase
with alpha- methyltyrosine was used as an index of norepinephrine turnover.
Norepinephrine turnover in skeletal muscle was increased significantly over
control values by ADN transection in sham renal-denervated rats, but was
not significantly different from controls in renal-denervated rats with ADN
section. In the hypothalamus, there was a significant difference between
the turnover of norepinephrine in the two groups of ADN-sectioned rats. The
results taken together suggest that renal denervation prevents the arterial
pressure response to ADN transection by altering the central mechanisms
governing sympathetic outflow. It is suggested that this effect may be due
to elimination of information carried by afferent renal fibers.
ARTICLES
Effect of renal denervation on arterial pressure in rats with aortic nerve transection