Key result
Early thymectomy significantly lowers arterial blood pressure and delays hypertension development in spontaneously hypertensive rats.
Why the study?
Immune system dysfunction contributes to spontaneous hypertension, but the effect of thymectomy on blood pressure development in hypertensive rats was unclear.
Does thymectomy at a young age delay the development of hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats?
Does thymectomy at a young age delay the development of hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats?
Thymectomy at a young age delays the development of hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats, supporting the hypothesis that immune imbalance contributes to spontaneous hypertension.
Supports immune imbalance hypothesis in hypertension; hypothesis-generating in rats and leaves open any human translation.
Previous studies in rats have demonstrated that immune system dysfunction contributes to the aetiology of spontaneous hypertension. Chronic immunosuppression with cyclophosphamide attenuated the level of hypertension in Okamoto spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) by approximately 50%. Also, neonatal thymic implants delayed the development of spontaneous hypertension and significantly attenuated its level at the age of 22 weeks in SHR. In the present study, the effect of thymectomy at the age of 4 weeks on blood pressure was investigated in SHR and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. The removal of the thymus gland in 4-week-old SHR produced a significant reduction in systolic arterial pressure (SAP), diastolic arterial pressure (DAP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) when rats were 16-19 weeks old, while no pressure reduction was observed in WKY rats. The decrease in arterial pressure of 16-week-old SHR was associated with a significant reduction in lymphocyte count at this age as compared with the control group. In 1-year-old SHR, thymectomized at the age of 4 weeks, there was no significant difference in arterial pressure or lymphocyte count compared with controls. These data support the hypothesis that an immune imbalance may be important in the development of spontaneous hypertension. We conclude that thymectomy at a young age (4 weeks) delays the development of hypertension in SHR.
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Khraibi et al. (1987) studied Spontaneous hypertension. Thymectomy vs. Control group was evaluated on Blood pressure (systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure). Thymectomy at 4 weeks of age significantly reduced systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats at 16-19 weeks of age, delaying hypertension development.
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