Abstract
Genetically obese and hypertensive rats (Obese/SHR) were subjected to sham or bilateral adrenalectomy at 4-5 weeks of age with the onset of hyperphagia. The sham-operated Obese/SHR ate voraciously and by 180 days of age males weighed 700 g and females 590 g. The adrenalectomized Obese/SHR ate much less and weighed 325 and 225 g. The systolic blood pressure of the intact Obese/SHR ranged from 160 to 170 mmHg, whereas the blood pressure of the adrenalectomized animals ranged from 108 to 110 mmHg. The thymi of the intact Obese/SHR were massive compared to those of the adrenalectomized rats. Adrenalectomy effectively reduced the hyperinsulinaemia, adiposity, hyperlipidaemia, hyperglycaemia, and elevated BUN levels of the obese rats. Several obese rats had old or new myocardial infarcts, fatty livers, giant-sized islets of Langerhans, nodular and hyperaemic adrenal glands, narrow zona glomerulosa devoid of lipid, vacuolated inner cortical zones, foci of intimal fibrinohyalin deposits in mesenteric arteries, early glomerulosclerosis, and large, rounded bladder calculi. The adrenalectomized Obese/SHR displayed none of these stigmata. It is suggested that the genetically programmed obesity and hypertension in these SHR are mediated by abnormal activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-gonadal axis, may be likened to Cushing's disease in the human, and is associated with accelerated ageing.
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