AUTHOR=Schaich Chris L. , Grabenauer Megan , Thomas Brian F. , Shaltout Hossam A. , Gallagher Patricia E. , Howlett Allyn C. , Diz Debra I. TITLE=Medullary Endocannabinoids Contribute to the Differential Resting Baroreflex Sensitivity in Rats with Altered Brain Renin-Angiotensin System Expression JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology VOLUME=7 YEAR=2016 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2016.00207 DOI=10.3389/fphys.2016.00207 ISSN=1664-042X ABSTRACT=
CB1 cannabinoid receptors are expressed on vagal afferent fibers and neurons within the solitary tract nucleus (NTS), providing anatomical evidence for their role in arterial baroreflex modulation. To better understand the relationship between the brain renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and endocannabinoid expression within the NTS, we measured dorsal medullary endocannabinoid tissue content and the effects of CB1 receptor blockade at this brain site on cardiac baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) in ASrAOGEN rats with low glial angiotensinogen, normal Sprague-Dawley rats and (mRen2)27 rats with upregulated brain RAS expression. Mass spectrometry revealed higher levels of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol in (mRen2)27 compared to ASrAOGEN rats (2.70 ± 0.28 vs. 1.17 ± 0.09 ng/mg tissue;