Chronic Antagonism of the Mineralocorticoid Receptor Ameliorates Hypertension and End Organ Damage in a Rodent Model of Salt-Sensitive Hypertension

Abstract

We investigated the effects of chronic mineralocorticoid receptor blockade with eplerenone on the development and progression of hypertension and end organ damage in Dahl salt-sensitive rats. Eplerenone significantly attenuated the progressive rise in systolic blood pressure (SBP) (204 ± 3 vs. 179±3 mmHg, p < 0.05), reduced proteinuria (605.5 ± 29.6 vs. 479.7 ± 26.1 mg/24h, p < 0.05), improved injury scores of glomeruli, tubules, renal interstitium, and vasculature in Dahl salt-sensitive rats fed a high-salt diet. These results demonstrate that mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism provides target organ protection and attenuates the development of elevated blood pressure (BP) in a model of salt-sensitive hypertension.

• mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist
• hypertension
• end organ protection
• eplerenone
• Dahl salt-sensitive rats

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge and thank Xiaolan Shen, Bo Wang, Christian N. Nunes, Leslie Ann Balogh, Carol Ann Keohane, Xiaoli Ping, Nina Jochnowitz, Loise Gichuru, Marianne Eybye, Huaibing He, and John Ronan for their excellent technical support to this work. We also acknowledge Dr. Shubing Wang for his assistance with statistical analyses and Dr. Edward D. Frohlich for his helpful suggestions on the manuscript.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.