DuP 753 Increases Survival in Spontaneously Hypertensive Stroke-Prone Rats Fed a High Sodium Diet

We studied the effects of the nonpeptide angiotensin II receptor antagonist, DuP 753, on blood pressure, body weight, plasma renin activity, sodium excretion, and mortality in male stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRsp) fed a 4% NaCl diet for 12 weeks. The rise in blood pressure, due to high sodium intake, was blunted in the first 8 weeks of the study in the DuP 753-treated group; however, it started slowly to rise in the following weeks. In the untreated group, blood pressure rose steadily and it was significantly higher than that of the treated group during the whole experimental period. DuP 753-treated rats gained weight continuously during the study in contrast to the untreated group, where weight gain was arrested after 4 weeks. Plasma renin activity rose significantly after 4 weeks of treatment with DuP 753; by week 6 its values returned to baseline values and remained at these lower values until week 12. In the untreated group, plasma renin activity was not suppressed by high sodium intake after 4 weeks; it continued to rise and it was significantly elevated by 8 and 12 weeks. Survival at 12 weeks was 84% in DuP 753-treated group and 26% in the untreated group. The data demonstrate that DuP 753 decreased mortality and dramatically blunted the blood pressure rise in SHRsp fed a high sodium diet.