Does severe hypertension alter regional myocardial perfusion and substrate utilization in Dahl rats?
Severe hypertension in a rat model induces a focal metabolic shift from fatty acid to glucose utilization in the left ventricular free wall despite uniform myocardial perfusion.
Severe hypertension causes global and regional changes in myocardial perfusion and substrate utilization. Regional perfusion and fatty acid utilization were evaluated by dual-tracer autoradiography in normotensive and hypertensive rats of the Dahl strain. The regional distributions of perfusion and fatty acid utilization were homogeneous in normotensive rats. Severe hypertension was associated with a homogeneous pattern of regional perfusion, but fatty acid utilization was focally decreased in the free wall of the left ventricle. The decrease in fatty acid uptake was associated with a concomitant increase in glucose utilization. These findings suggest that severe hypertension is associated with uniform myocardial perfusion and focal alterations in the substrates used for the performance of myocardial work.
Yonekura et al. (Fri,) studied this question.