A comparison of carotid body volumes in normotensive Wistar rats (NWR), Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).

The carotid body volumes of male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) and random-bred normotensive Wistar rats (NWR) were compared at the age of 16-18 weeks. SHR exhibited significantly greater absolute and relative carotid body volumes (CBV) than WKY or NWR. Furthermore, the absolute and relative CBV in WKY was also significantly bigger than in NWR. The same differences were found regarding the mean arterial blood pressure. The mean arterial blood pressure was significantly correlated with the logarithmic values of both the absolute and the relative CBV in SHR, WKY and NWR. These findings were compared with the results of other hypertensive rat models. It can be concluded that in hypertensive rats the CBV is likely to be dependent on the strain studied and independent of the blood pressure level or the expression of intraglomic vascular alterations.