BLOOD-PRESSURE REGULATION IN BARORECEPTOR-DENERVATED RATS

1. Arterial baroreceptor denervation produces acute hypertension, but chronically denervated animals have an average arterial pressure that is similar to that of baroreceptor intact animals. 2. Although cardiop ulmonary baroreceptors and renal compensations have been suggested to mediate the restoration of a normal average arterial pressure in sino- aortic denervated rats, such mechanisms are inconsistent with the avai lable data. 3. At present the processes involved in the restoration an d long-term maintenance of a normal average arterial pressure in chron ic baroreceptor denervated animals are not known. An understanding of the regulation of arterial pressure that occurs in the absence of arte rial baroreceptor reflexes may provide important new insights into the mechanisms underlying the long-term regulation of arterial pressure.