Cerebral Blood Flow in Rats with Renal and Spontaneous Hypertension: Resetting of the Lower Limit of Autoregulation

The effect of chronic hypertension on cerebral blood flow (CBF) was studied in anaesthetised rats. CBF was measured with the intracarotid 133 Xe injection method. Rats with spontaneous and renal hypertension were compared with normotensive controls. The lower limit of autoregulation was determined during controlled haemorrhage. In the normotensive rats, CBF remained constant until mean arterial pressure (MAP) had decreased to the range of 50–69 mm Hg. Thereafter, CBF decreased with each further decrease in MAP. In both types of hypertensive rats, CBF remained constant until MAP had decreased to the range of 70–89 mm Hg. Thus, a 20-mm Hg shift of the lower limit of CBF autoregulation was found in both spontaneous and renal hypertensive rats. A neuropathological study revealed ischaemic brains lesions in half of the hypertensive rats following hypotension, whereas only a single lesion was found in one of six normotensive rats. No ischaemic brain lesions were found in a control study in which CBF was shown to be stable over a 2 1/2-h period. In conclusion, hypertensive rats showed a shift of the lower limit of CBF autoregulation as well as an increased susceptibility to ischaemic brain damage during hypotension. These findings presumably reflect hypertensive structural changes in the cerebral circulation.