Comparative Effects of Castration and Antiandrogen Treatment on the Aortas of Hypertensive and Normotensive Male Rats

Abstract

Lowering androgen levels by gonadectomy or inhibiting circulating androgen by administration of the antiandrogen, BOMT, did not affect morphological or compositional changes induced by hypertension in the thoracic aorta of male rats. However, treatment with cyproterone acetate, another antiandrogenic drug, did result in the maintenance of total elastin and collagen at levels the same as those for the normotensive group and significantly lower than those for other treated and untreated hypertensive groups. In rapidly growing normotensive rats, neither castration nor administration of an antiandrogenic drug had any detectable effect on aortic wall morphology or composition regardless of whether the latter was expressed in absolute or relative terms. These findings suggest that growth and hypertension result in the accumulation of connective tissue proteins, elastin, and collagen in the blood vessel wall by different, independent mechanisms.