Abstract
Reduced norepinephrine (NE) reuptake and NE transporter (NET) in the heart are associated with hypertension. Sympathetic neurons in the stellate ganglia innervate the heart and direct nearly all cardiac sympathetic activity. The purpose of this study was to compare the regulation of NET in bilateral stellate ganglia of normotensive and hypertensive rats (DOCA-salt). Total RNA was isolated from ganglia and RT-qPCR was performed to analyze NET mRNA levels. NET mRNA levels were 4.48 fold higher in hypertensive left stellate than in normotensive left stellate (p=.13, n=6–7). NET mRNA in the right stellate was unchanged with hypertension (p>.05, n=7–10). Additional ganglia were fixed and sectioned for immunohistochemistry with a NET antibody against a cytoplasmic loop of the protein. All neurons in both ganglia were immunoreative for NET. Staining for NET in left stellate neurons from hypertensive animals was significantly more intense than normotensive (p<0.05, n=4). NET staining intensity in right stellate neurons was not different in hypertension (p>0.05, n=4). Increased NET mRNA and protein levels in the left stellate ganglia may serve as a compensatory mechanism when NET function is reduced in the heart during hypertension. This study indicates separate regulatory control of NET between right and left stellate, and also between nerve cell bodies and terminals. Supported by P01HL70687.
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