Abstract Body: We have recently reported that afferent renal denervation (ARDN) markedly attenuates the pathogenesis of hypertension in the 2 kidney 1 clip (2K1C) model in the rat. This was associated with a reduction in neurogenic pressor activity (NPA). We have also recently shown that lesion of the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis (OVLT), a forebrain circumventricular organ, had nearly identical effects in 2K1C rats as ARDN. Together these findings suggest that a neural pathway from the kidney to the OVLT plays an important role in 2K1C hypertension. Based on these findings we hypothesized that the combined effect of ARDN and lesion of the OVLT (OVLTx) on arterial pressure in 2K1C rats would not be greater than the individual treatments.
Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly selected to receive either OVLT lesion (x) or sham-OVLTx. One week later, rats were instrumented with telemeters to measure mean arterial pressure (MAP). One week later, renal artery stenosis was created by placing a clip on the left renal artery and then, rats were subjected to ARDN by periaxonal capsaicin or sham treatment of the clipped kidney creating 4 experimental groups: sham+sham (n=6), sham+ARDN (n=6), OVLTx+sham (n=5), OVLTx+ARDN (n=5). MAP was measured daily for 28 days, and at the end of the protocol, NPA was assessed by measuring the peak MAP response to ganglionic blockade.
MAP was similar in all 4 groups at the beginning of the study averaging 108±3 mmHg. MAP increased to 180±10 mmHg in the sham+sham group compared to 130±13mmHg in sham+ARDN, 142±18mmHg in OVLTx+sham rats and 158±14mmHg in OVLTx+ARDN rats (p<0.001). NPA in Sham+sham rats was significantly higher (-44 ± 8 mmHg) compared to sham+ARDN (-18 ± 3 mmHg), OVLTx+sham (-21 ± 2 mmHg) and OVLTx+ARDN (-19 ± 4 mmHg) rats (p<0.05). Notably, the combined effects of OVLTx+ARDN on MAP and NPA were not significantly different from either OVLTx (p=1.00 and p=0.819) or ARDN (p=0.113 and p= 0.878) alone.
In summary, ARDN and OVLTx attenuated hypertension and NPA similarly in 2K1C-HTN rats but the combination of these treatments did not produce any additional effect on MAP or NPA. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that afferent renal nerves and the OVLT are linked in a common neural pathway required for the development of hypertension following renal artery stenosis.