Physiol. Res. 52: 285-289, 2003

Genetic Isolation of Quantitative Trait Loci for Blood Pressure Development and Renal Mass on Chromosome 5 in the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat

M. PRAVENEC1,2, V. KŘEN1,2, D. KŘENOVÁ2, V. ZÍDEK1, M. ŠIMÁKOVÁ1,
A. MUSILOVÁ1, J. VORLÍČEK1, E. ST. LEZIN3, T. W. KURTZ3

1Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, and Centre for Integrated Genomics, 2Institute of Biology and Medical Genetics, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, 3Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, U.S.A.
 

Received February 6, 2002
Accepted July 11, 2002


Summary
Total genome scans of genetically segregating populations derived from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and other rat models of essential hypertension suggested a presence of quantitative trait loci (QTL) regulating blood pressure on multiple chromosomes, including chromosome 5. The objective of the current study was to test directly a hypothesis that chromosome 5 of the SHR carries a blood pressure regulatory QTL. A new congenic strain was derived by replacing a segment of chromosome 5 in the SHR/Ola between the D5Wox20 and D5Rat63 markers with the corresponding chromosome segment from the normotensive Brown Norway (BN/Crl) rat. Arterial pressures were directly monitored in conscious, unrestrained rats by radiotelemetry. The transfer of a segment of chromosome 5 from the BN strain onto the SHR genetic background was associated with a significant decrease of systolic blood pressure, that was accompanied by amelioration of renal hypertrophy. The heart rates were not significantly different in the SHR compared to SHR chromosome 5 congenic strain. The findings of the current study demonstrate that gene(s) with major effects on blood pressure and renal mass exist in the differential segment of chromosome 5 trapped within the new SHR.BN congenic strain.


Key words
SHR • Congenic strain • Chromosome 5 • Blood pressure • Renal mass


Reprint requests
Michal Pravenec, Ph.D., Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Vídeňská 1083, 142 20 Prague 4, Czech Republic, Phone/Fax: +420 24106 2297, e-mail: pravenec@biomed.cas.cz


© 2003 by the Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences