Hypothalamic Norepinephrine Concentration and Heart Mass in Hypertensive ISIAH Rats Are Associated with a Genetic Locus on Chromosome 18

The relationship between activation of the sympathetic nervous system and cardiac hypertrophy has long been known. However, the molecular genetic basis of this association is poorly understood. Given the known role of hypothalamic norepinephrine in the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, the aim of the work was to carry out genetic mapping using Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) analysis and determine the loci associated both with an increase in the concentration of norepinephrine in the hypothalamus and with an increase in heart mass in Inherited Stress-Induced Arterial Hypertension (ISIAH) rats simulating the stress-sensitive form of arterial hypertension. The work describes a genetic locus on chromosome 18, in which there are genes that control the development of cardiac hypertrophy associated with an increase in the concentration of norepinephrine in the hypothalamus, i.e., genes involved in enhanced sympathetic myocardial stimulation. No association of this locus with the blood pressure was found. Taking into consideration previously obtained results, it was concluded that the contribution to the development of heart hypertrophy in the ISIAH rats is controlled by different genetic loci, one of which is associated with the concentration of norepinephrine in the hypothalamus (on chromosome 18) and the other is associated with high blood pressure (on chromosome 1). Nucleotide substitutions that may be involved in the formation or absence of association with blood pressure in different rat strains are discussed.