Biomembrane Abnormalities in Spontaneous Hypertension

Recent studies on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) [1] and strokeprone SHR (SHRSP) [2] have brought us both good news and bad news [3]. The bad news is that hypertension and stroke are definitely determined by genetic factors [4]. On the other hand, the good news is that hypertension and stroke can be prevented by modifying environmental factors or by preventive treatments, even if genetic predisposition is strong [3, 5, 6].