Using a salt sensitive animal model of prehypertension, the Dahl S rat,the investigators have previously published that acute stress elicits a pressor response that is accompanied by an increase in 8 isoprostane and endothelin-1. However, the pressor response is suppressed by endothelin A/B receptor antagonism. Moreover, the investigators have identified that the increase in 8-isoprostane occurs downstream of endothelin receptor activation. These data indicate that endothelin receptor activation is a main player In the pressor response to acute stress in pre-hypertensive animals; however, this phenomenon has yet to be elucidated in humans.
