From the editor

摘要

Several interesting articles comprise this issue. The first of the laboratory-based studies, by Dr. Burrell and colleagues, of Dr. Colin Johnston's group, utilized the spontaneously hypertensive rat model to investigate the role of vasopressin and its receptors on the pathogenesis of hypertension. They found that activation of renal VIA receptors occurs during the development of elevated blood pressure, with a subsequent down-regulation of these receptors after the establishment of hypertension in this experimental model. These observations provide additional evidence for a role of vasopressin and its receptors in some forms of hypertension. Dr. Kurtel and colleagues examined the separate and combined effects of elevated blood pressure and hypercholesterolemia on vascular reactivity in mice. They found no evidence of an additive effect of these risk factors on vascular dysfunction in this model.