Abstract
Summary
Thirty adult male mongrel dogs were subjected to unilateral renal artery constriction and a week later to contralateral nephrec-tomy. Four weeks after the second operation, 25 animals had developed hypertension. Six of them (Group I) received hydrochlorothiazide (3.75 mg/kg/day, in two doses) orally for 6 weeks; a further six (Group II) were treated similarly but received KC1 (45 mg/kg/day, in two doses) in addition; the remaining 13 animals served as controls. Mean arterial blood pressure, recorded weekly, decreased by about 30 mm Hg (4 KPa) in both treated groups. Plasma potassium also declined significantly in both groups. Plasma renin activity was increased, but significantly only in group I, which also showed decreased blood and plasma volumes. Arterial water, sodium, and potassium were in general lower in groups I and II; the decrease in sodium was more consistent in arteries of group I. The norepinephrine content of arteries from the treated groups was not significantly different from that in untreated hypertensive dogs.
The authors thank J. Gaulin, D. Raber, J. C. Chehade, and E. Pierre for their valuable technical assistance, and A. L'Esperance for the secretarial work.
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