Fig. 5.

Mean arterial blood pressure (mmHg) and heart rate (bpm) assessed telemetrically. Arterial blood pressure and heart rate were assessed telemetrically at 12 months of age. Females had a lower systolic blood pressure than males (SBP (a)), P < 0.05. The diastolic blood pressure (DBP (b)) was lower in females (P < 0.001) and in sham animals (P < 0.05), and there was an effect of ovariectomy (P < 0.01). Females mean heart rate (HR (c)) was significantly higher than all other groups (P < 0.001), and this was reduced by ovariectomy (P < 0.01). Additionally, sham animals had higher HR than gonadectomised rats (P < 0.05). Data are presented as mean ± SEM for n = 8 animal per group,*P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001