Comparison of the effects of indapamide and captopril on the development of spontaneous hypertension.

Objectives: The effects of indapamide, a thiazide-like diuretic, and captopril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, on spontaneous hypertension and the development of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), nitric oxide generation and oxidant status were investigated.

Methods: Six-week-old male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were treated with indapamide (1 mg/kg per day) or captopril (10 mg/kg per day) or a combination of indapamide plus captopril. After the 6-week treatment, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity, the expression of NOS isoform proteins, conjugated dienes concentration and relaxation responses of the femoral artery were analyzed.

Effect of chronic apocynin treatment on nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species production in borderline and spontaneous hypertension.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor - apocynin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxyacetophenone) on the increase of systolic blood pressure (SBP) in borderline (BHR) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Young 6-week-old male BHR (offspring of SHR dams and Wistar Kyoto sires) and SHR were treated with apocynin (30 mg/kg/day) for six weeks. SBP was measured by tail-cuff plethysmography.

The effect of N-acetylcysteine and melatonin in adult spontaneously hypertensive rats with established hypertension.

The attenuated nitric oxide (NO) formation and/or elevated production of reactive oxygen species are often found in experimental and human hypertension. We aimed to determine possible effects of N-acetylcysteine (1.5 g/kg/day) and N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine (melatonin, 10 mg/kg/day) in adult spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) with established hypertension.

Possible role of nitric oxide in the locomotor activity of hypertensive rats.

We aimed to analyze whether hypertension and changes in nitric oxide (NO) generation are associated with alterations of locomotor activity in rats. Male Wistar rats treated with an inhibitor of NO synthase, NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 40 mg/kg/day) for 6 weeks, control Wistar rats, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), and control Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) aged 18 weeks were investigated. Locomotor activities were tested by the open field method.

Effect of chronic N-acetylcysteine treatment on the development of spontaneous hypertension.

The imbalance between NO (nitric oxide) and ROS (reactive oxygen species) is an important factor in the development of hypertension. The aim of the present study was to determine the preventive and therapeutic effects of NAC (N-acetylcysteine) in SHRs (spontaneously hypertensive rats). Young and adult SHRs and WKY (Wistar-Kyoto) rats were treated with NAC (20 g/l in the drinking water).