Artery Wall Electrolytes in Renal and Dca hypertension1

In an earlier study it was found that the renal artery of necropsied hypertensive subjects con- tained abnormally large amounts of sodium and water (1). The present study deals with the elec- trolyte composition of the aorta in rats with renal hypertension. After these aortas have been stripped of adventitia, at least two-fifths of the total area in tissue sections is occupied by smooth mus- cle cells. The remainder is largely connective tis- sue. The rat aorta thus provides for analysis a tissue rich in arterial smooth muscle. Moreover, the smooth muscle cells in the aorta are continuous with and have many of the pharmacological reac- tions of similar cells in the smaller arteries and ar- terioles (2). It seemed likely that any chemical alteration occurring in the aorta would give a clue to similar changes in the smooth muscle of arteri- oles. Technical difficulties have so far prevented us from analyzing the electrolyte content in the walls of arterioles.