Treatment with losartan, an AT1 receptor blocker, improves cognitive and cardiovascular function in a Dahl salt‐sensitive rat model of age‐associated vascular dementia.

Dementia is characterized by progressive cognitive impairment (CI), which is accompanied by decline in reasoning, planning and memory. Cardiovascular diseases are the major contributors to the pathogenesis of vascular dementia and affect mainly the aging population. Even on a normal salt diet, Dahl salt‐sensitive (DSS) rats exhibit age‐associated hypertension and CI. We hypothesized, that anti‐hypertensive treatment with the angiotensin II receptor blocker losartan (LOS) would improve cardiovascular and cognitive function in aged DSS rats.