Trpv4 involvement in the gender differences in blood pressure regulation in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Arterial pressure (AP) is lower in pre-menopausal women than in men of a similar age. Pre-menopausal women exhibit a lower sympathetic outflow and a greater baroreceptor reflex; however, mechanisms for the gender differences in blood pressure regulation are still not well understood. We hypothesized that different neuronal functions in the cardiovascular centers in the brains of men and women could contribute to the gender difference in cardiovascular homeostasis. Our previous studies on male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and their normotensive counterparts, Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats, revealed that the gene expression profile of the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), a pivotal region of the medulla oblongata for regulating the set-point of AP, is strongly associated with the AP level. Thus, we hypothesized that gene expression profiles in the rat NTS are related to gender differences in AP regulation. Since female SHRs clearly exhibit lower AP levels than their male counterparts at a similar age, we...