Neuropathy in the spontaneously hypertensive rat: An electrophysiological and histological study.

Abstract

Hypertension is identified as a risk factor for development of polyneuropathy. In this study we examined nerve conduction and morphological alteration of peripheral nerves in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) in the sciatic-tibial nerve and sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV) in the sural nerve were measured. Pathological investigations included spinal cord, dorsal root ganglion, and hindlimb nerves in SHR and Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) aged 4-64 weeks. Blood pressure was significantly higher in SHR than WKY animals at 4 weeks and elevated further with aging. MNCV and SNCV were significantly slower in SHR compared with WKY after age 24 weeks. Prominent morphological changes in SHR nerves included axonal atrophy and myelin splitting. SHR also had endoneurial microangiopathy with reduplication of basement membrane. SHR showed slowed nerve conduction velocity and pathological abnormalities of hindlimb nerves. Sustained severe hypertension may cause axonal atrophy and endoneurial microangiopathy. Muscle Nerve 54: 756-762, 2016.