AORTIC WALL ENZYMES IN SPONTANEOUSLY HYPERTENSIVE (SH) AND SPONTANEOUSLY ATHEROSCLEROTIC (CP) RATS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a study to investigate aortic wall enzymes in spontaneously hypertensive (SH) and spontaneously atherosclerotic (CP) rats. The study examined the activity of some enzymes of basic metabolic cycles in the aorta whose changes usually accompany or precede the onset of pathological processes in the arterial wall. The study compared their activity in the aortic wall of adult hypertensive, corpulent, and normal Wistar rats of the same age, reared under uniform conditions. The aorta of spontaneously hypertensive rats showed altered activities of all the investigated enzymes compared with normotensive rats. The activities of alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, and 5-Nu were significantly elevated; those of malate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, and carboxylic esterase were reduced. The enzyme spectrum of the aorta in hypertensive rats is similar to that of arteries more susceptible to atherosclerosis or various models of vascular lesion in experimental animals and agrees with earlier the findings of reduced activity of enzymes of the Kreb's cycle and elevated activity of phosphomonoesterases, resulting in lipid accumulation and atherosclerotic lesions in the arterial wall.