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Critical role of angiotensin II in excess salt-induced brain oxidative stress of stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Kim-Mitsuyama S, Yamamoto E, Tanaka T, Zhan Y, Izumi Y, Izumiya Y, Ioroi T, Wanibuchi H, Iwao H

Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Therapeutics, Kumamoto University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto, Japan.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The detailed role of angiotensin II in salt-exacerbated stroke is unclear. We examined the role of angiotensin II in salt-accelerated stroke of stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP). METHODS: Salt-loaded SHRSP were orally given the angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor blocker candesartan (0.3 to 3 mg/kg per day) and calcium channel blocker amlodipine (1 mg/kg per day), and the effects on stroke (n=61) and brain superoxide were compared between them. We also examined the effect of angiotensin II infusion (200 ng/kg per min) on brain superoxide production and blood-brain barrier. RESULTS: Despite the comparable hypotensive effect between candesartan and amlodipine, candesartan prolonged survival of salt-loaded SHRSP much more than amlodipine (P<0.01), being associated with more improvement of cerebral arteriolar thickening, cerebral arteriolar cell proliferation, and hippocampal CA1 neuronal cell reduction (1024.9+/-20.6 versus 724.9+/-22.8 cells/mm2; P<0.01; n=7 to 10 in each group) in SHRSP by candesartan (P<0.05) than amlodipine. Salt loading increased superoxide and NADPH oxidase activity in brain cortex and hippocampus of SHRSP, and this increase was prevented by candesartan (P<0.01) but not amlodipine. Angiotensin II infusion, via AT1 receptor, directly increased brain superoxide by 1.8-fold (P<0.05; n=6 to 7 in each group) and impaired blood-brain barrier in salt-loaded SHRSP by 1.7-fold (P<0.05), and this increase in brain superoxide and blood-brain barrier impairment was prevented by tempol as well as candesartan. CONCLUSIONS: Excess salt, via oxidative stress, accelerates stroke, and angiotensin II, via AT1 receptor, plays a pivotal role in brain superoxide production of SHRSP by excess salt.

Published 3 May 2005 in Stroke, 36(5): 1083-8.
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