The hemodynamic and metabolic effects of 11 days of sham (saline) and corticotropin injection were examined in five different strains of rats: Sprague-Dawley, spontaneously hypertensive (SHR), Wistar-Kyoto (WKY), Brattleboro, and Long Evans. Corticotropin significantly increased systolic blood pressure (SBP) compared with sham injection in all strains: final SBP in Sprague-Dawley was 108 ± 5 mm Hg corticotropin, 94 ± 4 mm Hg sham; SHR 146 ± 6 mm Hg corticotropin, 141 ± 3 mm Hg sham; WKY 117 ± 3 mm Hg corticotropin, 103 ± 3 mm Hg sham; Brattleboro 108 ± 5 mm Hg corticotropin, 93 ± 2 mm Hg sham; and Long Evans 103 ± 5 mm Hg corticotropin, 90 ± 4 mm Hg sham (P < .001). Corticotropin also produced a decrease in body weight and increases in water intake and urine out-put. Increases in urine electrolyte excretion were seen in some, but not all strains. The rise in pressure in the Brattleboro rats indicated that vasopressin is not essential for the corticotropin-induced rise in pressure. Blood pressure rises in SHR were not exaggerated. Withdrawal of corticotropin in Sprague-Dawley rats led to rapid reversal of the corticotropin-induced hemodynamic and metabolic changes. Thus, strain does not appear to be an important factor in corticotropin hypertension in the rat, in contrast to deoxycorticosterone hypertension.

Total renin protein concentration (TRC) was measured in stored follicular fluid (FF) samples from 42 women. Samples were selected according to their origin from follicles either without recovered ova ('empty', n = 38) or fertilized but with failed implantation ('failed', n = 36) or successful deliveries ('deliveries', n = 71). Ratios of number of embryos transferred to number of infants delivered were 2:1, 3:1 or 4:2 but 1:1 was not available. Non-parametric testing was applied to FF-TRC, volume and outcome. TRC was significantly higher in the delivery than the failed (P = 0.001) or empty (P = 0.002) categories. Assuming that the range of renin in failed follicles can identify the sub-population of unsuccessful follicles in the delivery category, then elevated FF-TRC was clearly associated with successful outcome. For individual women, the odds of infant delivery increased 17-fold as a function of average FF-TRC between 10,000 and 25,000 microIU/ml. For failed and delivery but not empty follicles, higher renin levels occurred in the smaller follicles, consistent with a burst of renin synthesis associated with the presence of an oocyte. The results suggest that FF-TRC relates to ovum viability with ovarian hyperstimulation and may have predictive use in IVF programmes.