Volume 91, Issue 6, June (2004), pp. 857-865 © The Author 2004
doi:10.1079/BJN20041116

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Effect of a methionine-supplemented diet on the blood pressure of Sprague–Dawley and deoxycorticosterone acetate–salt hypertensive rats

Sophie Robin¹, Véronique Maupoil¹, Pascal Laurant¹, Alain Jacqueson² and Alain Berthelot^1
1Laboratoire de Physiologie, Pharmacologie et Nutrition Préventive Expérimentale and
²Laboratoire de Toxicologie, UFR Médecine et Pharmacie, 4 Place Saint-Jacques, 25030 , Besançon, cedex, France

 (Received 12 September 2003–Revised 1 February 2004–Accepted 6 February 2004)

The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the effects of a methionine-supplemented diet on systolic blood pressure (BP) and vasomotor functions in Sprague–Dawley (SD) and deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)–salt hypertensive rats. SD and DOCA rats were fed a normal or a methionine (8 g/kg)-supplemented diet for 10 weeks. Systolic BP was monitored and plasma homocysteine, methionine and cysteine levels were determined at the end of the experiment. Vasoconstriction and vasodilatation of aortic rings were measured. The methionine-supplemented diet induced a greater increase in homocysteinaemia concentration in DOCA rats than in SD rats and an increase in plasma cysteine concentration in DOCA rats. This diet was associated with an increase in systolic BP in SD rats and with a lesser development of DOCA–salt hypertension. An enhanced aortic constriction and a decreased responsiveness to acetylcholine, bradykinin and sodium nitroprusside in the SD rats fed the methionine-rich diet were consistent with the elevated systolic BP. In DOCA rats the increased responsiveness to bradykinin was in accordance with the systolic BP-lowering effect. In conclusion, the methionine-enriched diet cannot simply be considered as model of hyperhomocysteinaemia, since other metabolites and mechanisms seemed to be implicated in these complex interactions. The differential vasopressive effect of the methionine supplementation in SD and DOCA rats, and in particular the lowering of systolic BP obtained with a greater degree of hyperhomocysteinaemia in DOCA rats, suggest that more complex interactions exist between hyperhomocysteinaemia and BP than the simple positive association described previously.

Keywords:
Deoxycorticosterone acetate–salt hypertensive rats, Homocysteine, Aortic rings

Abbreviations:
BP, blood pressure, DOCA, deoxycorticosterone acetate, EC₅₀, half effective concentration, Hcy, homocysteine, HHcy, hyperhomocysteinaemia, Met, methionine, SD, Sprague–Dawley, SHR, spontaneously hypertensive rat