Hypothalamic angiotensin receptor subtypes in normotensive and hypertensive rats

The binding of 125I-labeled [Sar1,Ile8]angiotensin II to the hypothalamic membranes of the normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rat (WKY) and the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) was studied. Displacement experiments with four centrally active angiotensins, losartan, and PD-123319 confirm the known existence of angiotensin AT1 and AT2 receptors in the rat hypothalamus. The values of the inhibitory constants for angiotensin II and PD-123319 in the SHR were significantly lower than the corresponding values in the WKY, indicating the possible existence of high-affinity hypothalamic AT1 and AT2 receptors for the two ligands in the SHR. The angiotensin AT1 receptor was further separated into a 5'-guanylyl imidodiphosphate-sensitive and -nonsensitive subtype, indicating that one of the subtypes is G protein coupled. The SHR has significantly higher numbers of measurable AT1-receptor subtypes as well as AT2 receptor subtypes. The former data support the findings of other investigators showing that the hypothalamus of the SHR expressed more AT1A and AT1B mRNAs than that of the normotensive rat. Des-Asp1-angiotensin I, which is known to attenuate the central pressor action of angiotensin II and angiotensin III, acts on both the AT1 and AT2 receptors, although it has a higher affinity for the AT1 receptors. The overall increase in the number of AT1 and AT2 receptors in the SHR is in line with the contention that the brain of the hypertensive rat, compared with that of the WKY, has a hyperactive renin-angiotensin system.