Overweight/obesity is a chronic disease that carries an increased risk of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and premature death. Several epidemiological studies have demonstrated a clear relationship between salt intake and obesity, but the pathophysiologic mechanisms remain unknown. We hypothesized that ghrelin, which regulates appetite, food intake, and fat deposition, becomes elevated when on...

A high salt diet has been shown to increase renal mass of intact rats, although the mechanism by which this occurs has not been investigated. We used Dahl rats that are sensitive (DS) or resistant (DR) to the hypertensinogenic effect of salt to examine changes in renal size and composition caused by a high salt diet. Renal index, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), protein, water content, protein/DNA ...

BACKGROUND Although impaired nitric oxide production contributes importantly to salt-sensitivity, the role of the endothelial isoform of nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) has received little attention. In the present study we compared the effects of a high-salt diet on the blood pressure response of eNOS knockout (eNOS-/-) and control (eNOS+/+) mice. METHODS Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rat...

We hypothesized that increased superoxide contributes to mean arterial pressure (MAP) regulation in male Sprague-Dawley rats fed a high-salt diet and/or during endothelin (ET(B)) receptor blockade. Four groups on either a normal- or a high-salt diet were studied for 1 week: (1) control; (2) tempol, a superoxide dismutase mimetic, in their drinking water (1 mmol/L); (3) A-192621, an ET(B) antago...

Salt sensitivity of blood pressure (BP) is speculated to be a characteristic in obesity-induced hypertension. To elucidate the influence of obesity on salt-sensitive hypertension, we examined the effect of fat loading on BP, renal damage, and their progression induced by salt excess in Dahl salt-sensitive (S) rats. High fat (HF: 45% fat diet: 8 weeks) diet increased BP with greater weight gain ...

We investigated the influence of maternal salt restriction during mating or gestation on birth rate and offspring growth in Dahl salt-sensitive rats (DS). DS were divided into 5 groups: DS fed a low-salt (0.3% NaCl, w/w) (DS-low) or high-salt (4% NaCl, w/w) diet (DS-high) during mating and DS-high or DS-low during gestation, and DS fed regular chow (0.75% NaCl, w/w) (DS-regular) throughout mati...

It has been previously suggested that salt loading produces structural changes of the arteries in hypertensive patients who respond to salt loading with a greater rise of blood pressure. This study examined the possibility that salt loading alters venous distensibility in hypertensive patients. Twenty-one patients with essential hypertension were placed on a low-sodium diet (70 meq) for 7 days ...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of high-salt diet on the renal expression of renalase and the potential role of the local renin-angiotensin system in this process. METHODS Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into groups according to salt content in diet and drug treatment as follows: normal-salt diet (NS), high-salt diet (HS), high-salt intake with hydrala...

This study examined the effect of 25% deuterium oxide in drinking water on systolic blood pressure, uptakes of calcium, and rubidium 86 by aortas of Dahl salt-sensitive rats on 0.4% (low) and 8% (high) sodium chloride (salt) diet. Twenty-four rats were divided into four groups. Groups I and II were on the low salt diet and groups III and IV on the high salt diet from 6 weeks of age. Additionall...

BACKGROUND High salt intake suppresses the effect of nitric oxide (NO) in the peripheral resistance vessels in animal models. We tested the hypothesis that the modulation of endogenous NO is related to salt sensitivity in human hypertension. METHODS AND RESULTS Inpatients with essential hypertension (n=24) were maintained on a normal-salt diet (12 g/d NaCl) for 3 days, a low-salt diet (2 g), ...