(Hypertension. 2001;37:698.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.
Scientific Contributions |
From the Laboratory of Clinical Physiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Nephrology and Health Sciences, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Correspondence to Aderville Cabassi, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Nephrology and Health Sciences, University of Parma Medical School, Via Gramsci 14, 43100 Parma, Italy. E-mail cabassia{at}unipr.it
| Abstract |
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Key Words: muscle, skeletal adipose tissue nervous system, sympathetic norepinephrine rats, inbred SHR
| Introduction |
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| Methods |
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Instrumentation of the Rats and Microdialysis
Experimental Procedure
Rats were instrumented with 2 flexible concentric
microdialysis probes with membranes (10-mm length, 0.5-mm outside
diameter, and molecular weight cutoff 20 kDa; CMA/20, CMA/Microdialysis
AB) as we have previously
described.18 Two small
bioptic samples taken after the insertion of the guide were quickly
frozen and controlled by cryostatic sections for
histological confirmation of the position of the tip of
the probes in white adipose tissue or skeletal muscle. The probes were
then connected to a microperfusion pump (CMA100, CMA/Microdialysis AB)
and perfused at a flow rate of 2.0 µL/min with a Ringers solution
of the following millimolar composition: NaCl 140, KCl 3.0,
MgCl2 1.0, and CaCl2 1.2.
The rats took a few minutes to recover from experimental handling, and
after a 30-minute equilibration period, the dialysates from
microdialysis probes were collected at 30-minute intervals over a
period of 210 minutes and immediately analyzed for NE and DHPG.
After 90 minutes (basal period), the perfusion was changed to the
Ringers solution containing desipramine hydrochloride (concentration
of 5 µmol/L at a flow rate of 2 µL/min, giving a presumed quantity
of 10 pmol/min in the tissue interstitium), which was perfused for 120
minutes. This concentration and perfusion rate of desipramine were
chosen because in our experience, no systemic effects of desipramine on
NE and DHPG plasma levels were observed until 240 minutes of perfusion
at this concentration. At the end of the experiment, the young rats
were housed again for a longitudinal study. The same groups of animals
were reexamined at the age of 16 weeks.
To exclude the possibility that the insertion of the small microdialysis probes in the dorsal region may have altered sympathetic activity in these strains, we simultaneously measured plasma NE and DHPG levels during the microdialysis procedure in cannulated conscious and unrestrained rats (n=8 per each group). Five days before the microdialysis procedure, young and old WKY and SHR were instrumented, after anesthesia with sodium pentobarbital (60 mg/kg body wt IP) on a temperature-regulated table to maintain rectal temperature between 36°C and 38°C, by placing catheters (polyethylene tubing [PE-10] welded to a PE-50 catheter) in the femoral artery for blood sampling and arterial pressure measurements and in the femoral vein for volume replacement (same amount of iso-oncotic artificial rat plasma: 2.5 g/dL of each BSA and immunoglobulin in Ringers solution; volume replacement rate: 30 mL/kg per hour for young and old rats for 10 minutes and then 1 mL/kg per hour). The catheters, filled with heparinized saline, were positioned in the abdominal aorta and in the vena cava, tunneled subcutaneously, extruded at the back in the low interscapular region, and protected from the rat by insertion into a stainless-steel tether. After that procedure, the rats were again placed in individual cages. The arterial catheter was coupled to a pressure transducer (Statham P231D, Gould Statham Inc), and the signal was amplified and recorded by a data-acquisition system (MP100WS, Harvard Apparatus). Before and during the microdialysis procedure, blood samples (500 µL) were repeatedly taken (every 30 minutes). NE and DHPG concentrations in plasma and dialysates from tissue interstitia were immediately analyzed after collection by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection as previously described.18 To avoid possible analytical interferences of NE with 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, the pH of the mobile phase was rigorously maintained at <2.65. Peak identification was performed on the basis of retention time of external standards and on cyclic voltametry. All drugs and chemicals were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co.
Microdialysis Probe Calibration and In Vivo
Recovery Experiments
Microdialysis probes were calibrated in vivo for the
relative recovery rate of NE and DHPG in all animals undergoing
experimental procedures by perfusing 3,4-dihydroxybenzylamine (DHBA),
an internal standard that is thought to behave like
catecholamines and have similar diffusion characteristics.
DHBA in the Ringers perfusion solution at a concentration of 0.4
nmol/L has not been shown to possess any pharmacological activity on NE
or its metabolite levels.18
The recovery rate is needed to estimate the absolute NE
interstitial concentration from the concentration in the
dialysate; NE and DHPG concentrations measured in the dialysate
obtained from the skeletal muscle and adipose tissue were corrected for
an in vivo recovery of DHBA (mean recovery rate was 42±3%), being
relatively steady at this perfusion rate and not decreasing during the
microdialysis experimental
procedure.17 18
Statistical Analysis
Values are presented as mean±SEM.
Statistical analysis was based on a 2-way ANOVA model for
repeated measures, in which the dependent variable (NE or DHPG)
represents the same measurement taken at various times. The
Student t test either for
independent or paired samples was used to compare group means when
ANOVA showed a significant effect of the factor. A value of
P<0.05 was considered
statistically significant.
| Results |
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Plasma Catecholamine Levels
As depicted in
Figure 1 and indicated in the
Table,
young SHR and WKY showed similar levels of plasma NE, whereas DHPG was
higher in still normotensive SHR compared with age-matched WKY. After
the development of hypertension, compared with young SHR and
age-matched WKY, SHR showed increased plasma NE
(Table
and
Figure 1A). DHPG levels were also confirmed to be higher in
old SHR compared with old WKY
(Table
and
Figure 1B). Tissue perfusion of desipramine through the
microdialysis probes did not alter the plasma concentrations of either
NE or DHPG
(Figure 1A and 1B).
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Interstitial
Catecholamines in Skeletal Muscle
Basal NE levels in dialysate from skeletal muscle
(adjusted for the in vivo recovery of DHBA) were much higher in SHR
compared with WKY (P<0.01, t test)
(Table
and Figure 2A). In old animals (16 weeks), a further increase in
NE levels was observed in SHR compared with younger SHR, whereas
similar NE concentrations were found in young and old WKY. As shown in
Figure 2A, both young and old WKY as well as old SHR
exhibited a 2- to 3-fold increase in interstitial NE
concentrations over the basal levels after desipramine perfusion; in
contrast, a 5-fold increase of interstitial NE over the
basal value was observed in young SHR. ANOVA revealed a significant
effect of desipramine over time in all groups (ANOVA,
P<0.001) and a significant
difference between young and old SHR (ANOVA, F=6.6,
P=0.012, 1
df) and between age-matched SHR
and WKY (ANOVA, P<0.001).
Basal interstitial DHPG was significantly higher in young
and old SHR compared with age-matched WKY
(P<0.01,
t test;
Figure 2B). The inhibition of presynaptic reuptake by
desipramine perfusion halved DHPG levels in the interstitium of young
and old WKY and old SHR, whereas a much higher reduction was reached in
young SHR
(Figure 2B). ANOVA showed a significant effect of desipramine
over time in all groups (ANOVA,
P<0.001) and a significant
difference between young and old SHR (F=4.9,
P=0.023, 1
df) and between age-matched SHR
and WKY (ANOVA, P<0.001).
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Interstitial
Catecholamines in Adipose Tissue
Marked increases in the basal levels of NE and
DHPG were observed in age-matched SHR compared with WKY
(P<0.01,
t test;
Table
and
Figure 3A and 3B). Whereas young and old WKY exhibited a 2-
to 3-fold increase in NE levels after desipramine perfusion, a 5- to
6-fold increase was observed in age-matched SHR
(Figure 3A). ANOVA revealed a significant effect of
desipramine over time in all studied groups (ANOVA,
P<0.001) as well as a
significant difference between age-matched SHR and WKY (ANOVA,
P<0.001). Desipramine
perfusion halved interstitial DHPG levels in all groups
(ANOVA, P<0.001, over time for
all groups and between groups of age-matched SHR and WKY;
Figure 3B).
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| Discussion |
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In the present study, the in vivo presynaptic reuptake of NE in skeletal muscle and in subcutaneous adipose tissue, measured as the increase in NE levels in dialysates from the interstitium and the parallel drop of DHPG from basal levels after local perfusion of desipramine, is much higher in young SHR (5-fold for NE) than in age-matched WKY (2- to 3-fold), thereby indicating a more active presynaptic reuptake in the former strain. In both tissues, the effects of desipramine on interstitial NE levels were attributed to a local inhibitory action on tissue presynaptic reuptake and were not due to systemic action because the drug did not alter plasma DHPG or NE in any group. Because a small part of DHPG may be derived by the spontaneous leakage of NE from storage vesicles into the axoplasm,22 it might be worth noting also that the increased levels of interstitial DHPG, even during neuronal uptake blockade by desipramine, suggest an increased leakage of NE from vesicle to the axoplasm in both SHR tissues. Moreover, because the leakage is a passive process, such a finding would be consistent with an increased amount of NE in the vesicular stores of SHR.
In the present study, no differences in plasma NE were detectable between young SHR and WKY, whereas higher plasma levels of its metabolite DHPG were measured in SHR. Intraneuronally generated DHPG, different from NE that underwent rapid metabolic transformation, would be expected to traverse the cell membrane readily and enter the circulation. Plasma NE and DHPG levels were measured in awake, undisturbed, lightly restrained, 1 per cage, chronically cannulated rats by sampling arterial blood and paying particular attention to volume replacement. This finding concerning plasma NE conflicts with results obtained by other groups.19 20 However, some reports21 23 showed similar plasma levels of NE in SHR and WKY and higher levels only when blood was taken by venipuncture in restrained and immobilized rats, suggesting a hyperresponsiveness to the restraint. The increased sympathetic activity and NE turnover in young SHR is better reflected by plasma DHPG than by plasma NE concentrations. Vlachakis and Alexander21 found in SHR that plasma catecholamine metabolites are correlated better with increased sympathetic activity than is NE.
Therefore, in the present study, conclusions about
sympathetic activity based solely on NE plasma levels in young SHR seem
to be limited and not representative of the higher
levels found in interstitial tissues. This discrepancy is
probably due to the various processes to which NE is submitted after
release into the synaptic gap and before spilling into the blood
stream. Hoeldtke et al24 have
observed that the quantity of NE that spills into the plasma from the
synaptic cleft appears to be
12% to 20% of the quantity released
from nerve endings in the whole body. This difference between the high
interstitial concentration in the synaptic cleft (and
thereby at the receptor site) and the concentration in the plasma
appears to be greatly influenced by local NE metabolism.
Another factor to consider is that plasma NE concentrations depend on
NE clearance. A variety of circumstances can change the rate at which
NE is removed from the plasma in the 2 strains. An increased cardiac
output, as found in the early phases of hypertension in young SHR, can
determine a parallel rise in NE removal from plasma, contributing to
the discrepancy between interstitial and plasma NE levels
in this
strain.1 3 25
However, in the presence of increased sympathetic discharge from the striated muscle of young SHR, a normal level of blood pressure was measured. Obviously, the elevated activity of the sympathetic nervous system at this time was not sufficient to cause a rise in vascular tone and consequently in blood pressure. In young SHR, this may depend on the efficiency of other counterbalancing mechanisms (such as endothelium-derived relaxing factors) that modulate the increased sympathetic activity.
After the development of hypertension in SHR, plasma NE and DHPG levels were higher than the levels found in young SHR and age-matched WKY. Basal NE interstitial levels in skeletal muscle were greater in old SHR than in young SHR, whereas a blunted increase in NE after desipramine perfusion (2- to 3-fold), indicating a reduction in presynaptic NE reuptake at this age compared with a younger age (5-fold increase), was found. Such a behavior in older SHR allows for a higher availability of NE for postsynaptic vascular effects leading to the sustained increase of vascular resistance observed at this age. This higher NE interstitial level may also affect muscle metabolism in SHR of this age by inhibiting at a concentration in the same range the oxygen consumption and glucose uptake.26 The explanation for reduced in vivo NE reuptake in skeletal muscle of SHR after the development of hypertension is not clear even if some hypotheses may be put forward propounding a potential effect of angiotensin II, which at very low concentrations can markedly inhibit NE uptake.27 In a recent study,2 the authors showed an impairment in total and cardiac neuronal NE reuptake in patients with essential hypertension compared with normotensive patients, suggesting a functional reduction in NE presynaptic transporter activity linked to possible NE transporter gene mutations.28
Moreover, in subcutaneous adipose tissue, basal NE levels in dialysates were higher in old SHR than in age-matched WKY but were similar to levels in young SHR. In contrast to the observation in skeletal muscle, the responses to desipramine perfusion on NE interstitial levels in subcutaneous adipose tissue were higher in old SHR compared with age-matched WKY but not different from those in respectively younger rats. In white adipose tissue, adrenergic nerve fibers are present around vessels, but they are also abundantly distributed directly on fat cells.29 Their activation, which is independent of baroreflex control, is mainly involved in the regulation of lipolysis.29 Compared with age-matched WKY, SHR show a lower increase in body weight during their life spans, and this could be related to the continuously increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system in their white adipose tissue throughout their lives.17
In conclusion, sympathetic nervous system activation is increased and appears to be independent of baroreflex function, being present in skeletal muscle and subcutaneous adipose tissue in awake and freely moving hypertensive rats. In addition, the present findings obtained in vivo support the notion of increased release, reuptake, turnover, and storage of NE in SHR of both ages. Finally, after the development of hypertension in SHR, neuronal NE reuptake is reduced in skeletal muscle and may be responsible for the enhanced availability of NE for postsynaptic vascular effects, contributing to the increased vascular resistance in this tissue and hence to the elevation of blood pressure.
| Acknowledgments |
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Received October 24, 2000; first decision November 30, 2000; accepted December 18, 2000.
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