Development and Worsening of Hypertension with Age in Male Wistar Rats as a Physiological Model of Age-Related Hypertension: Correction of Hypertension with Taxifolin

To preclinically study the effectiveness of new antihypertensive drugs, various animal hypertension models are used. However, most of them do not correspond to primary hypertension, which develops in people with age. We used male Wistar rats of 4, 10, 12 and 18 months old. The animals were divided according to systolic blood pressure (SBP) into normotensive (SBP ≤ 114 mmHg) or hypertensive (SBP ≥ 115 mmHg). Within hypertensive animals, two cohorts were distinguished-with SBP below and above 125 mmHg. The animals received 100 µg/kg of taxifolin intraperitoneally for 7 days. A significant difference was shown between animals with SBP above and below 115 mmHg, as well as between cohorts of hypertensive animals with SBP above and below 125 mmHg within each age. The number of animals with elevated SBP increased with age both for clusters with an SBP above 115 mmHg and for cohorts with an SBP above 125 mmHg. Administration of taxifolin led to a significant decrease in the SBP only in hypertensive animals. A physiological model of age-related hypertension was obtained in male Wistar rats. It has been shown that hypertension develops and worsens with age. In preclinical studies, it should be taken into account that drugs may have different effects depending on the initial SBP of the animals.