Data obtained during the last two decades show that spontaneously hypertensive rats, an acceptable experimental model of primary human hypertension, possess increased activity of both ubiquitous and renal cell-specific isoforms of the Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger (NHE) and Na⁺-K⁺-2Cl cotransporter. Abnormalities of these ion transporters have been found in patients suffering from essential hypertension. Recent genetic studies demonstrate that genes encoding the - and -subunits of ENaC, a renal cell-specific isoform of the Na⁺-K⁺-2Cl cotransporter, and 3-, 1-, and 2-subunits of the Na⁺-K⁺ pump are localized within quantitative trait loci (QTL) for elevated blood pressure as well as for enhanced heart-to-body weight ratio, proteinuria, phosphate excretion, and stroke latency. On the basis of the homology of genome maps, several other genes encoding these transporters, as well as the Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger and Na⁺-K⁺-2Cl cotransporter, can be predicted in QTL related to the pathogenesis of hypertension. However, despite their location within QTL, analysis of cDNA structure did not reveal any mutation in the coding region of the above-listed transporters in primary hypertension, with the exception of G276L substitution in the 1-Na⁺-K⁺ pump from Dahl salt-sensitive rats and a higher occurrence of T594M mutation of -ENaC in the black population with essential hypertension. These results suggest that, in contrast to Mendelian forms of hypertension, the altered activity of monovalent ion transporters in primary hypertension is caused by abnormalities of systems involved in the regulation of their expression and/or function. Further analysis of QTL in F₂ hybrids of normotensive and hypertensive rats and in affected sibling pairs will allow mapping of genes causing abnormalities of these regulatory pathways.

ion transporters; genes; vascular and renal function

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