Rat study: Perinatal pro-, antioxidant balance affects adulthood hypertension.

2004 SEP 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study conducted in rats suggests the balance of pro- and antioxidants in the perinatal period affects blood pressure phenotype evident later in life.

"Embryo cross-transplantation and cross-fostering between spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive rats (WKY) suggest that perinatal environment modulates the genetically determined phenotype. In SHR the balance between NO and reactive oxygen species (ROS) is disturbed. We hypothesized that increasing NO and diminishing ROS in perinatal life would ameliorate hypertension in adult SHR," said S. Racasan and colleagues, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

To test this hypothesis, "[p]regnant SHR and WKY and their offspring received L-arginine plus antioxidants (vitamin C, vitamin E, and taurine) during the last 2 weeks of pregnancy and then until either 4 or 8 weeks after birth. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and urinary excretion of protein, nitrates (NOx), and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were measured. At 48 weeks of age rats were euthanized for glomerular counts."

The researchers found "[p]erinatal supplements reduced SBP persistently in SHR and prevented the SBP increase observed in aging WKY."

"Initially NOx excretion was lower and TBARS excretion higher in SHR than WKY. There was a direct effect on NOx excretion in supplemented pregnant SHR and their offspring, but no increase was observed after stopping the ...