Renal angiotensin II type 1 receptor expression and associated hypertension in rats with minimal SHR nuclear genome.

Angiotensin II (AII) has been linked as a causal factor in several experimental models of hypertension (HT) including Okamoto spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). The transmission and expression of AII type 1 receptors (AT1r) in SHR and the development of genetic HT remain unknown. It is hypothesized that tissue-specific expression of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) genes derived from SHR are linked to HT in offspring of SHR crossed with Brown Norway (BN) rats.