Genetic Control of the Corticosterone Level at Rest and Under Emotional Stress in ISIAH Rats with Inherited Stress-Induced Arterial Hypertension

Abstract

The genetic background of the regulatory systems of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in hypertension remains unclear. The inherited stress-induced arterial hypertension (ISIAH) and Wistar Albino Glaxo (WAG) normotensive rats were bred and their F₂ progeny were used in a quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis to identify genomic regions for plasma basal and stress-induced corticosterone levels, and for absolute and relative adrenal gland weights. The significant loci were found for stress-induced corticosterone on chromosome 9 and for adrenal weight on chromosome 6. The results may help to identify the genes controlling the trait phenotypes in the ISIAH rats characterized by the enhanced responsiveness to stressful stimulation.

Keywords:

• corticosterone
• adrenal gland weight
• inherited stress-induced arterial hypertension (ISIAH) rats
• stress-induced arterial hypertension
• quantitative trait loci (QTL)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant 08-04-01048) and in part by a grant from the Ministry of Science and Education of the RF (grant 3H-319-09), Presidium Programs of Russian Academy of Sciences: “Molecular and Cellular Biology” (grant 10.12) and “Biodiversity” (grant 23.26).

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