Long term effects of amlodipine on organ damage, stroke and life span in stroke prone spontaneously hypertensive rats

Amlodipine decreases fibrosis and cardiac hypertrophy in spontaneously hypertensive rats: persistent effects after withdrawal

“…Although the highest doses triggered a further action on blood pressure, it had no additional effect on cardiac fibrosis. Other authors, using different protocols, have reported decreases in collagen deposition due to amlodipine (Suzuki et al, 1993;Watanabe et al, 1998;Witte et al, 2001). As far as we are aware, in the present study we have demonstrated for the first time that this effect persists after withdrawal of chronic amlodipine treatment.…”

Very low frequency blood pressure variability is modulated by myogenic vascular function and is reduced in stroke-prone rats

“…For example, the question whether hypertensive patients with reduced VLF BPV should receive Ca 2þ -channel blockers as antihypertensive medication is still controversial, as these drugs further deteriorate myogenic function and may trigger cerebral hyperperfusion and hemorrhagic stroke [12]. In contrast to this reasoning, in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats, Ca 2þ -channel blockers have been reported to prevent cardiovascular end-organ damage [50] and reduce cerebral injury even if treatment is only initiated after a hemorrhagic stroke [51]. Nevertheless, in these animal studies, BP was reduced and well controlled by the treatment with the Ca 2þ -channel blocker.…”

Age Related Decreases in Neural Sensitivity to NaCl in SHR-SP.

“…This inconsistency may be attributed to the special physiological characteristics of SHR-SP. As mentioned above, SHR-SP rats develop extreme hypertension, a high percentage of spontaneous stroke [17], and have a short lifespan [25,26,33]. These extraordinary characteristics of SHR-SP physiology could be correlated with the drastic decline in taste sensitivity of SHR-SP as a concequence of age.…”

“…In addition, the average lifespan of SHR-SP (8.25-12.5 months: [25,26,33]) is much shorter than that of SHR (about 20 months: [6,17,23]). We wondered whether SHR-SP might experience exaggerated age-dependent changes in CT nerve responses.…”