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Response of plasma renin activity to hypotension and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor in the turtle

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Summary

We examined the physiological role of the renin-angiotensin system in response to hemorrhagic and pharmacologic hypotension in the freshwater turtle,Pseudemys scripta elegans. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), plasma renin activity (PRA), and plasma electrolytes were determined for 1 h prior to and 5 h after hemorrhage or vasodilator administration. With hemorrhage (23% blood volume) BP significantly decreased from 26.7 mm Hg to 17.4 mm Hg (P<0.01) within the first hour after hemorrhage and remained below control levels (P<0.05) until reinfusion of the shed blood at 5 h. HR increased within one hour (21 to 31 beats/min,P<0.01) and then slowly fell towards control levels. PRA also increased initially (2.5 to 6.5 ng/ml·h at 1 h,P<0.05). Infusion of the converting enzyme inhibitor SQ 20881 (0.5 mg/kg·h) during hemorrhage prolonged the hypotension, further elevated PRA and blunted the HR increase. The vasodilators diazoxide and papaverine produced the same degree of hypotension as hemorrhage. Diazoxide (4.5 mg/kg) decreased BP from 24.9 to 14.5 mm Hg (P<0.01) and increased PRA with no change in HR. Papaverine (10 mg/kg) produced a similar fall in BP (25.4 to 12.3 mm Hg,P<0.01) with no PRA change and a transient fall in HR. The data suggests that the renin angiotensin system plays a role in the maintenance of BP in the turtle in response to acute hypotension, but this role may be considerably less than observed in other animals, including mammals.

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Abbreviations

BP :

blood pressure

HR :

heart rate

PRA :

plasma renin activity

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life and Health Sciences, University of Delaware, 19711, Newark, Delaware, USA

    Gregory A. Stephens & Jay S. Creekmore

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  1. Gregory A. Stephens
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  2. Jay S. Creekmore
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Supported by the American Heart Association of Delaware, NIH Biomedical Research Support Program, and USPHS #HL2808401

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Stephens, G.A., Creekmore, J.S. Response of plasma renin activity to hypotension and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor in the turtle. J Comp Physiol B 154, 287–294 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02464409

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