Intermittent electrical stimulation of the right cervical vagus nerve in salt-sensitive hypertensive rats: effects on blood pressure, arrhythmias, and ventricular electrophysiology.

ABSTRACT: Hypertension (HTN) is the single greatest risk factor for potentially fatal cardiovascular diseases. One cause of HTN is inappropriately increased sympathetic nervous system activity, suggesting that restoring the autonomic nervous balance may be an effective means of HTN treatment. Here, we studied the potential of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) to treat chronic HTN and cardiac arrhythmias through stimulation of the right cervical vagus nerve in hypertensive rats. Dahl salt-sensitive rats (n = 12) were given a high salt diet to induce HTN. After 6 weeks, rats were randomized into two groups: HTN-Sham and HTN-VNS, in which VNS was provided to HTN-VNS group for 4 weeks. In vivo blood pressure and electrocardiogram activities were monitored continuously by an implantable telemetry system. Aft

SUBMITTER: Annoni EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4562562 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature