Previous studies with chromosome-Y consomic strains of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto rats suggest that a quantitative trait locus for blood pressure regulation exists on chromosome Y. To test this hypothesis in the SHR-Brown Norway (BN) model and to study the effects of chromosome Y on lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, we produced a new consomic strain of SHR carrying the Y chromosome transferred from the BN rat. We found that replacing the SHR Y chromosome with the BN Y chromosome resulted in significant decreases in systolic and diastolic blood pressures in the SHR.BN-Y consomic strain (P<0.05). To elicit possible dietary-induced variation in lipid and glucose metabolism between the SHR progenitor and chromosome-Y consomic strains, we fed rats a high-fructose diet for 15 days in addition to the normal diet. On the high-fructose diet, the SHR.BN-Y consomic rats exhibited significantly increased levels of serum triglycerides and decreased levels of serum HDL cholesterol versus the SHR progenitor rats. Glucose tolerance and insulin/glucose ratios, however, were similar in both strains on both normal and high-fructose diets. These findings provide direct evidence that a gene or genes on chromosome Y contribute to the pathogenesis of spontaneous hypertension in the SHR-BN model. These results also indicate that transfer of the Y chromosome from the BN rat onto the SHR background exacerbates dietary-induced dyslipidemia in SHR. Thus, genetic variation in genes on the Y chromosome may contribute to variation in blood pressure and lipid levels and may influence the risk for cardiovascular disease.

Institute of Biology and Medical Genetics 1st Medical Faculty Charles University Prague Czech Republic

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