Investigating the Mechanisms Underlying Effects of Testosterone on Blood Pressure in Normotensive and Hypertensive Rats
January 2017
TLDR Testosterone raises blood pressure by affecting kidney function and brain gene regulation over time.
The study investigated how testosterone affects blood pressure in normotensive and hypertensive rats. It found that sub-chronic testosterone treatment increased blood pressure and kidney epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) expression, while chronic treatment also raised blood pressure but decreased ENaC expression and increased aquaporin (AQP) expression. Plasma aldosterone, sodium, and glucose levels were elevated with sub-chronic treatment but decreased with chronic treatment. Gene expression analysis in the brain's cardiovascular centers revealed that chronic testosterone exposure up-regulated genes like Ephx2 and Fcrl2, suggesting that testosterone's long-term blood pressure effects might be mediated through brain mechanisms rather than kidney functions.