Changes in convulsion threshold and changes in the action of certain sleep-inducing drugs in hypertensive rats (DOCA/NaCl and SHR).

The excitability of the central nervous system was determined using for this purpose the threshold of electric-shock induced convulsions, and the sleep-inducing action of chloral hydrate and sodium barbital was investigated in rats with spontaneous arterial hypertension (SHR) and with hormonally induced hypertension (DOCA/NaCl) comparing the results to those in normotensive rats. The convulsion threshold was found to be lower and the duration of sleep was shorter in hypertensive rats. The obtained results suggest that in both types of hypertension the initiating factor (genetic or hormonal) cause definite biochemical changes in the central nervous system leading to changes in its excitability and its reactions to drugs.