Vascular smooth muscle polyploidy in the development and regression of hypertension

1. Two groups of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were treated with enalapril (25–30 mg/kg per day): Group I received treatment from 4 to 14 weeks of age to inhibit development of hypertension and Group R received the drug from 14 to 20 weeks of age to reverse established hypertension. 2. Systolic blood pressure, ploidy of aortic smooth muscle cells (flow cytometric DNA analysis) and aortic hypertrophy (medial cross‐sectional area) were determined at times both during and after enalapril treatment (up to 30 weeks). 3. Enalapril treatment normalized blood pressure to that of age‐matched Wistar‐Kyoto rats in both groups. Blood pressure rose again following cessation of treatment. 4. In untreated SHR the incidence of polyploid cells increased concomitantly with increasing pressure throughout the time studied, whereas in Group I the incidence remained low. In Group R, the incidence of polyploidy directly paralleled both the decrease (normalization) and the rise in blood pressure following cessation of treatment. 5. Hence, the incidence of vascular smooth muscle cell polyploidy is not simply a result of growth of the vessel with increasing age of the SHR, but parallels inhibition, reversal, and redevelopment of hypertension.