Effect of renovascular hypertension of the morphology of oral blood vessels.

Renovascular hypertension was created in twenty adult male rats to study the effects of systolic hypertension on the morphology of vessels supplying the gingiva, periodontal membrane, pulp tissue, and alveolar bone. Gingival arterioles showed changes consisting mainly of proliferation of the intima and elastic layers, some hyalinization of the wall, and reduction of the lumen. Similar but less frequent changes were observed in the vessels feeding the periodontal membrane; however, pulp tissue and alveolar arterioles were unaltered.