Influence of dietary sodium on blood pressure in baroreceptor-denervated rats.
One possible explanation for the salt sensitivity of blood pressure (BP) in certain hypertensive individuals is that neural mechanisms which normally counteract the pressor effect of a high dietary sodium intake are defective. We have tested this possibility in normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) by surgically ablating the arterial baroreflex mechanism. This manoeuvre, by itself, conferred substantial salt-sensitivity on the WKY rats whose BP is normally relatively insensitive to dietary sodium intake. The treated rats responded to a high sodium diet with a significant rise in systolic BP which was reversed by substituting a low sodium diet. Thus, impaired baroreflex function which has been observed in essential hypertension and in hypertensive animals, may be responsible for the hypertensive effect of sodium.
D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D004351:Drug Resistance; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D011311:Pressoreceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011921:Rats, Inbred WKY; D012849:Sinoatrial Node / Q000502:physiology; D012964:Sodium / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D012964:Sodium