Short-term Salt Preference of Potassium-deprived Rats.

ZUCKER, IRVING. Short-term salt preference of potassium-deprived rats. Am. J. Physiol. 208(6) : 1071-1074. I g65.-Shortterm selection of salts was studied in young rats maintained on a potassium-free diet. When offered a choice between a KC1 solution and one of five NaCl solutions, these animals showed a greater preference than controls for four of the five NaCl solutions. Moreover, they preferred the NaCl solutions over the KC1 solution for four of the five concentrations of NaCl tested. Control animals preferred NaCl over KC1 at only one of the NaCl concentrations. The initial choice of NaCl by the potassium-deprived rats is, by definition, independent of taste and postingestional factors, and is in part, perhaps, under the control of olfactory stimuli emanating from the salt solutions. The preference for NaCl over KC1 was diminished by maintaining potassium-deficient rats on a diet high in sodium content. It was tentatively concluded that the increased preference for NaCl by rats fed diets quate in all other respects sodium. low in potassium content but adereflected an increased utilization of