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Biomedical subjects

K Kohara

Publications and source records attributed to K Kohara.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Hypotensive effect associated with a phospholipase C-delta 1 gene mutation in the spontaneously hypertensive rat.

To identify the genes responsible for blood pressure in the spontaneously hypertensive rat strain, we performed a cosegregation analysis between the genotype and blood pressure in a set of male F2 rats obtained by crossmating SHR with Wistar-Kyoto rats, a parental normotensive strain. Our investigation revealed that the phospholipase C-delta 1 polymorphism, which resulted in missense mutation, cosegregates with the lower blood pressure in SHR, and that PLC-delta 1 gene is located on chromosome 8. On the other hand, we found the lack of cosegregation between blood pressure and the nerve growth factor receptor gene, which is linked to a hypertensinogenic gene locus (denoted as BP/SP-1) on chromosome 10. We propose that PLC-delta 1 gene itself of closely linked gene on chromosome 8 is a new candidate with the hypotensive effect, and that BP-SP1 locus does not directly contribute to blood pressure elevation in original SHR.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Spectral change in heart rate variability in response to mental arithmetic before and after the beta-adrenoceptor blocker, carteolol.

Spectral analysis of heart rate fluctuation was evaluated before and after administration of carteolol, a non-selective beta-adrenoceptor-blocker, to investigate the neural regulatory mechanisms underlying the haemodynamic changes induced by mental stress. Mental stress increased blood pressure and heart rate, with an increased low frequency band, and low frequency/high frequency ratio of the power spectral analysis which are indices of sympathetic activity. Carteolol did not change basal and pre-mental stress measurements of blood pressure, heart rate and spectral density. However, carteolol altered the response to mental stress with a decrease in spectral density of the low frequency band and low frequency/high frequency ratio, and an increase in the high frequency component. These results confirm that mental stress elevates blood pressure by activating the sympathetic nervous system, and suggest that blockade of the beta-adrenoceptor attenuates the pressor response by preventing the autonomic responses to mental stress.

Blood Pressure↗
PubMed1992

Peripheral and central angiotensin II regulates expression of genes of the renin-angiotensin system.

We investigated whether angiotensin (ANG) II has the potential to regulate expression of genes of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in peripheral and central tissues. ANG II (0.1 or 6.0 nmol/h) was infused by osmotic minipump into male Sprague-Dawley rats (225-250 g) for 5 days, either intravenously or intracerebroventricularly. We measured angiotensinogen mRNA in liver, adrenal glands, and brain (hypothalamus and lower brain stem), renin mRNA in the kidney, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) mRNA in the lung and testis by Northern blot analysis. We demonstrated that plasma ANG II increases the levels of liver angiotensinogen mRNA, decreases kidney renin mRNA, and decreases lung ACE mRNA. Intracerebroventricular administration of ANG II resulted in a different pattern of responses of the peripheral RAS components. Liver angiotensinogen mRNA was increased, and kidney renin mRNA was decreased by both doses of ANG II, whereas lung ACE mRNA remained unresponsive at either dose. Centrally mediated influences of ANG II are most likely indirect since plasma ANG II concentration was not changed. This study has revealed that ANG II has profound diverse effects that influence the regulation of its formation. Further, results indicate that genes of the RAS responded to exogenous ANG II in both tissue- and route-specific ways.

Angiotensin II↗
PubMed1991

Angiotensin-(1-7). A member of circulating angiotensin peptides.

We measured the concentrations of three principal products of the renin-angiotensin system and seven of their metabolites in the plasma of anesthetized normal dogs and in dogs 24 hours after bilateral nephrectomy. The levels of the angiotensin peptides were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography combined with radioimmunoassay using three specific antibodies that recognized different epitotes in the sequences of angiotensin I, angiotensin II, and angiotensin-(1-7). The analysis revealed that angiotensin-(1-7) is present in the plasma of intact (4.9 +/- 2.2 fmol/ml) and nephrectomized (0.5 +/- 0.5 fmol/ml) dogs. An intravenous injection of purified hog renin (0.01 Goldblatt unit/kg) increased plasma levels of angiotensin I, angiotensin II, and angiotensin-(1-7) both before and after nephrectomy. These changes were associated with parallel increases in the concentrations of fragments of the three parent peptides. Administration of MK-422 led to the disappearance of circulating angiotensin II and its fragments both before and after a second injection of the same dose of renin. In contrast, MK-422 augmented the plasma levels of both angiotensin I and angiotensin-(1-7). The concentrations of these two peptides, but not the blood pressure, were again augmented by a second injection of renin given after blockade of converting enzyme. These effects were observed both before and after bilateral nephrectomy. These findings show that angiotensin-(1-7) circulates in the blood of normal and nephrectomized dogs. In addition, we found that angiotensin-(1-7) is generated in the blood from the cleavage of angiotensin I through a pathway independent of converting enzyme (EC 3.4.15.1).

Angiotensin I↗
PubMed1991

Importance of the sympathetic nervous system in blood pressure elevation by subpressor intraventricular NaCl and angiotensin II in the rat.

The present study was performed to examine the effect of chemical sympathectomy with guanethidine on the BP change and humoral factors in rats which received continuous and concomitant infusion of i.c.v. hypertonic NaCl with i.v. Ang II, both at subpressor doses for 7 days. Male rats were divided into 3 groups which received the following infusions using an osmotic minipump at a rate of 1 microliter/min: Group 1 (n = 11), 0.15 M NaCl i.c.v. and Ang II (5.4 pmol/kg/min) i.v.; Group 2 (n = 9), 0.8 M NaCl i.c.v. and Ang II i.v.; Group 3 (n = 5), 0.8 M NaCl i.c.v. and Ang II i.v. with daily i.p. injection of guanethidine (40 mg/kg). Significant increase in BP was observed only in Group 2 (from 103 +/- 3 mmHg to 132 +/- 5 mmHg on day 7, p less than 0.001). Addition of i.p. guanethidine to i.c.v. infusion of 0.8 M NaCl and the subpressor dose of Ang II completely prevented increase in the BP, suggesting that the presence of the intact sympathetic nervous system is necessary for the development of BP elevation in response to i.c.v. hypertonic NaCl plus i.v. Ang II. Thus, the sodium status in the central nervous system is important in the regulation of BP and is closely related to the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.

Angiotensin II↗
PubMed1990

Differential blood pressure responses to oral and central salt administration in two substrains of Dahl rats.

Studies were made on whether oral or intraventricular (icv) NaCl had different effects on the blood pressure (BP) of Dahl rats. Five groups of each strain of Dahl rats, salt-sensitive (S) and salt-resistant (R) rats, were given, respectively, a diet containing 0.3% and icv infusion of 0.15 mol/L NaCl (group 1, control group) or 0.8 mol/L NaCl (group 2), a diet containing 8% NaCl and icv infusion of 0.15 mol/L (group 3) or 0.8 mol/L NaCl (group 4) for 12 days, or an 8% NaCl diet and icv infusion of 5% glucose (group 5). The icv infusions were made into the third cerebral ventricle with an osmotic minipump. In the control group of S rats (group 1) the BP was 120 +/- 4 mm Hg, whereas the BP in groups 3, 4 and 5 were 154 +/- 4, 161 +/- 5 and 153 +/- 3 mm Hg, respectively, and that in group 2 was 142 +/- 3 mm Hg on day 12. In the R rat, group 2 and group 4 showed a significant increase in BP over that of the control group. Multivariate analysis (quantification I) of these data confirmed that the BP of S rats was more sensitive to oral salt loading and that of the R rat was more strongly influenced by central salt administration. These results indicate that the two substrains of Dahl rats show different BP responses to oral and central administrations of NaCl.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Haemodynamic effect of endothelin, a novel potent vasoconstrictor in dogs.

1. The effects of endothelin (40 and 400 pmol/kg, intravenous (i.v.), a novel vasoconstrictor, on haemodynamics were evaluated in normal dogs and dogs treated with hexamethonium. 2. The lower dose of endothelin caused no significant changes in mean blood pressure (MBP), heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), or total peripheral resistance (TPR) in normal dogs. In dogs treated with hexamethonium MBP decreased transiently associated with decrease in TPR. 3. In both dogs, the higher dose of endothelin caused MBP increase with CO increase in an early phase, and with TPR increase in a later phase. In normal dogs, the CO decreased 60 min after endothelin, but in dogs treated with hexamethonium the decrease in CO was not significant. 4. Electrocardiograms showed ST changes and arrhythmias. 5. Thus, endothelin has dual effects on both the vasculature and the heart, its effect depending on its dose and the time after its administration: initial vasodilation followed by prolonged vasoconstriction, and cardiostimulation followed by cardiosuppression. The cardiosuppression appears to be mediated in part by a neural mechanism.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Effect of aspirin on the pressor activity of endothelin.

To examine the inhibition of prostaglandins to the pressor activity of endothelin, hemodynamic changes of dogs pretreated with aspirin in response to endothelin were compared with those of control. In control dogs, endothelin rose blood pressure due to vasoconstriction, with a transient vasodilation in some dogs in the initial phase. In dogs treated with aspirin, the initial vasodilation and the subsequent vasoconstriction were also noted, but the zenith of the total peripheral resistance was observed earlier, compared with control dogs. Thus, prostaglandins do not appear to have a role in the initial vasodilatory action of endothelin, but may modify the long lasting vasoconstriction in the late phase.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Effect of the calcium antagonist nicardipine on the pressor action of endothelin.

To evaluate hemodynamic actions of endothelin, anesthetized normal dogs and dogs with two doses of nicardipine received endothelin (400 pmol/kg, i.v.). Normal dogs showed an increase in blood pressure (BP) associated with an early (5 min) increase in cardiac output (CO) and a later (60 min) increase in total peripheral resistance (TPR). The lower dose of nicardipine (0.01 mg/kg/h) abolished the latter vasoconstrictive BP elevation. Dogs with the higher dose of nicardipine (0.1 mg/kg/h) did not show any changes in BP, CO or TPR. Thus, endothelin has both cardiostimulatory and vasoconstrictive actions, depending on the degree of calcium influx.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Increase in the blood pressure and decrease in the norepinephrine release in the ventrolateral medulla during intraventricular administration of hypertonic NaCl.

Norepinephrine (NE) release in the ventrolateral medulla (VLM) was serially measured in anesthetized male Wistar rats during the rise in the blood pressure (BP) produced by acute intraventricular (ICV) administration of hypertonic (1.5 M) NaCl. Catecholamine release was determined by a brain microdialysis method using high performance liquid chromatography and electrochemical detector. The release of NE in the VLM was significantly decreased after ICV 1.5 M NaCl. In another set of rats, the pressor response to acute ICV 1.5 M NaCl was attenuated by selective administration of NE to the VLM using the microdialysis method. Chronic and continuous ICV infusion of 1.5 M NaCl to conscious rats caused an increase in BP on day 10 which was associated with a decrease in NE release in the VLM; concomitant ICV infusion of NE or of a synthetic NE precursor, L-threo-3,4-dihydroxyphenylserine (L-DOPS) prevented the rise in BP as well as the reduction in NE release. These results suggest that a decrease in the NE release of the VLM may contribute to the change in BP induced by ICV infusion of hypertonic saline.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Effect of volume expansion on hemodynamic variables in nephrectomized dogs.

We have previously demonstrated that blood pressure elevation by acute blood volume expansion is volume-dependent during the infusion period and resistance-dependent in the post-infusion period in normal anesthetized dogs, and that such an increase in blood pressure is associated with a potentiation of the pressor response to norepinephrine. To evaluate the possible renal contribution to these hemodynamic changes, blood volume expansion was performed for 1 h with dextran dissolved in lactated Ringer's solution (20 ml/kg) in 15 nephrectomized dogs. The mean blood pressure, cardiac output and total peripheral resistance at the end of infusion were 126%, 225% and 60%, respectively; 3 h after volume expansion they were 126%, 151%, and 92% respectively. However, in 4 dogs, there was an increase in mean blood pressure (138%) 3 h after volume expansion. This was thought to result from an increase in the total peripheral resistance (133%) associated with the recovery of cardiac output (106%). The pressor response to norepinephrine (0.5 microgram/kg) was potentiated after volume expansion. These results indicate that the handling of volume by the kidney contributed to the maintenance of an elevated level of cardiac output. However, nephrectomy did not seem to interfere with the hemodynamic switching of the causative factor for blood pressure elevation from increased cardiac output to increased total peripheral resistance. Neither was the potentiation of pressor response to norepinephrine affected.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Effects of the baroreceptor reflex system on atrial natriuretic factor secretion during volume expansion in dogs.

1. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the baroreceptor reflex system affects the secretion of atrial natriuretic factor directly or indirectly during acute volume expansion. 2. Lactated Ringer's solution containing low mol. wt. dextran was infused at 20 ml/kg for 1 h into dogs in which baroreceptors had been denervated surgically (Vx), dogs in which the autonomic system had been blocked with hexamethonium (Hx) and control dogs. 3. The plasma noradrenaline level was significantly higher in the Vx group and lower in the Hx group than in the control group throughout the experiment. The plasma levels of arginine vasopressin in the Vx and Hx groups were significantly higher than in the control group. 4. The plasma atrial natriuretic factor levels in the three groups showed similar increases during and after volume expansion. 5. The plasma atrial natriuretic factor level was significantly correlated with the right atrial pressure during volume expansion. 6. From these results, it seems unlikely that changes in the plasma level of atrial natriuretic factor during volume expansion are regulated by the baroreceptor reflex directly or indirectly by systemic changes in the sympathetic nervous system or arginine vasopressin secretion.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Synergism of intraventricular NaCl infusion and subpressor angiotensins in rats.

The effect of selective salt infusion to the central nervous system on the blood pressure (BP) regulation was examined in male Wistar rats. Hypertonic NaCl (0.8 M, 1 microliter/h) was infused into the lateral ventricle concomitantly with intravenous infusion of a subpressor dose (5.4 pmol.kg-1.min-1) of angiotensin II (ANG II) or its analogues for 7 days using osmotic minipumps. The BP was not increased by intracerebroventricular infusion of NaCl alone at this dose but was significantly and consistently increased by concomitant intravenous infusion of ANG II or its analogues. The increases in the BP over the base-line values on day 7 in groups on infusions of ANG II, ANG III, and pentasarcosyl-ANG II [(Sar)5ANG II] were 29 +/- 5 mmHg (n = 9, P less than 0.05), 8 +/- 2 mmHg (n = 8, P less than 0.05), and 19 +/- 3 mmHg (n = 6, P less than 0.05), respectively. The responses to hexamethonium, prazosin, and antagonists of arginine vasopressin and ANG II were examined in separate sets of conscious and unrestrained animals that had received intracerebroventricular infusion of NaCl and intravenous infusion of ANG II for the preceding 6 days. These animals showed significantly greater depressor responses only to hexamethonium and prazosin than control. These results indicate that the pressor effect of continuous and concomitant administration of intracerebroventricular NaCl and intravenous ANG II is mainly due to activation of the sympathetic nerve function. Synergism of the effects of selective central sodium administration and a subpressor dose of ANG II in the central nervous system is suggested.

Angiotensins↗
PubMed1989

Contribution of the baroreflex afferent nerves to the production of vasoconstricted hypertension in volume-expanded dogs.

Dextran in lactated Ringer's solution (20 ml/kg) was infused for 1 hour into anesthetized dogs with sinoaortic denervation and vagotomy (deafferentation; n = 10) and dogs treated with hexamethonium (de-efferentation; n = 13) to compare with our previous observation in dogs with an intact autonomic nervous system (control, n = 34). During the infusion, increase in blood pressure associated with increase in cardiac output was observed in all three groups. The increases in blood pressure were larger in the two groups with an impaired autonomic nervous system. In the recovery period, the control dogs and the hexamethonium-treated dogs showed gradual increases in total peripheral resistance and in vasoconstricted hypertension 3 hours after stopping the infusion. In contrast, the dogs with sinoaortic denervation and vagotomy did not show any increase in total peripheral resistance. The vasoconstricted groups showed peaks of natriuresis soon after the infusion, not 3 hours after the infusion when vasoconstriction was observed, although the dogs with deafferentation did not show a significant increase in natriuresis. Norepinephrine (0.5 micrograms/kg) was administered intravenously before and after volume expansion, and the pressor responses in the three groups after volume expansion were enhanced similarly (143%, 128%, and 136%, respectively). These results indicate that the afferent signals from peripheral vessels to the brain contribute to the production of vasoconstricted hypertension after acute volume expansion and that the vasoconstriction is independent of pressor hypersensitivity and is dissociated in time from the natriuresis.

Afferent Pathways↗
PubMed1989

Direct vascular effects of 19-hydroxyandrostenedione.

A C19 steroid, 19-hydroxyandrostenedione (19-OHAD), an amplifier of the mineralocorticoid effects of aldosterone, is known to cause hypertension in rats during chronic administration. In the present study we examined the direct vasoconstrictive effects of 19-OHAD and aldosterone in vitro as a possible mechanism of their hypertensinogenic effects. Contractile responses of central ear arteries from normal male rabbits to either 19-OHAD or aldosterone were examined in Krebs' bicarbonate buffer. When given alone, neither 19-OHAD nor aldosterone consistently caused contraction of the arteries, nor did 19-OHAD amplify the contractile action of aldosterone to a detectable range. Pretreatment of the ear arteries with desipramine, an inhibitor of neuronal uptake (uptake 1) of norepinephrine (NE), resulted in significant concentration-dependent contraction by each steroid. This contraction was markedly attenuated by prazosin but not by yohimbine. Both steroids significantly potentiated the contractile reaction of the ear arteries to exogenous NE in a dose-related manner without pretreatment with desipramine, suggesting that 19-OHAD may increase vascular resistance through the inhibition of extraneuronal NE uptake (uptake 2). These results suggest that 19-OHAD is not an amplifier of aldosterone at the vascular site.

Aldosterone↗
PubMed1988

Potentiation of the pressor effect of angiotensin II by intraventricular infusion of hypertonic saline.

The effect of selective NaCl loading to the brain on the blood pressure regulation was examined in male Wistar rats. Hypertonic NaCl (0.8M, 1 microL/h) was infused for 7 days into the lateral ventricle (ICV) along with intravenous (IV) infusion of angiotensin II (AII) at a dose of 5.4 pmol/kg per minute. Although neither ICV hypertonic NaCl or IV AII infusion alone had any substantial pressor effect, concomitant administration of these resulted in a consistent and significant increase in the blood pressure on day 7 over the baseline value, amounting to 29 +/- 5 mm Hg (n = 9; P less than 0.001). Inasmuch as the increase in the BP was totally prevented by intraperitoneal injection of guanethidine (40 mg/day), hyperactivity of the sympathetic nervous system appears, at least in part, responsible for the BP elevation caused by the combination of ICV hypertonic NaCl and IV subpressor AII infusion.

Angiotensin II↗