Background: Exercise training (T) blunts functional deficits and renin-angiotensin system (RAS) hyperactivity in hypertensive individuals. There is no information on T-induced temporal changes of brain RAS. We evaluate now the simultaneous effects of T on functional responses and time course changes in the expression/activity of brain RAS components in autonomic cardiovascular-controlling areas.
Methods and results: Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and age-matched normotensive controls (WKY) were trained for 0, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks. Sedentary (S) groups served as time-controls. After arterial pressure (AP) and heart rate (HR) recordings at rest, fresh and fixed brains were harvested for qPCR and immunofluorescence assays. SHR-S vs. WKY-S exhibited higher mean AP (MAP) and HR, increased pressure variability and sympathetic activity, elevated AT1 receptor (AT1) expression in nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) and higher Mas receptor expression in the rostroventrolateral medulla (RVLM). In SHR, T promptly (T2 on) reduced sympathetic variability to heart/vessels and largely decreased angiotensinogen expression in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN) and NTS, with a late RVLM reduction (T4). AT1 expression was only reduced at T12 (PVN and NTS) with transient, not maintained Mas receptor changes in PVN and RVLM. These responses were accompanied by baseline MAP and HR reduction in the SHR-T (from T4 on). In the SHR group, PVN angiotensinogen expression correlated positively with sympathetic activity, resting MAP and HR. In WKY-T, a precocious (T2-T12) RVLM AT1 decrease preceded the appearance of resting bradycardia (from T8 on).
Conclusions: Early and maintained reduction of angiotensinogen content in autonomic areas of the SHR is the most prominent effect of training on brain RAS. Down-regulation of PVN RAS expression is an essential factor to drive cardiovascular benefits in SHR-T, while resting bradycardia in WKY-T is correlated to RVLM AT1 reduction.