Chronic hypertension disrupts the blood-brain barrier in the ventral hippocampus in females but not males in a rat model of vascular cognitive impairment

Chronic hypertension increased blood-brain barrier permeability in the ventral hippocampus of female spontaneously hypertensive rats, but not males, with sex-dependent links to anxiety-like behavior.

• Why it matters: Chronic hypertension is linked to cerebrovascular disease and cognitive impairment, yet how it affects limbic regions and emotional behavior—especially alongside sex differences—remains unclear.
• What they did: Adult (7-month-old) male and female Wistar and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR; n=8/group) were tested in an open field task, while BBB leakage into the ventral hippocampus was quantified using sodium fluorescein, 3 kDa Texas red dextran, and 10 kDa cascade blue; serum markers were measured in separate groups (n=6/group).
• The result: In females, chronic hypertension raised circulating inflammatory factors and ventral hippocampal BBB permeability, which correlated with anxiety-like behavior, whereas males showed no hypertension-related BBB change or such correlation.

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