title: Restriction of dietary sodium may enhance nitric oxide production in rats.
abstract: To clarify the precise relationship between sodium and nitric oxide (NO), we studied the effects of altered sodium intake on NO production. Male Wistar rats were maintained on a low-sodium (0.2% NaCl), normal-sodium (2% NaCl), or high-sodium (8% NaCl) diet for 10 days or 8 weeks; 24-h urine was collected at those times for assay of nitrate ion (NO3-), a stable metabolite of NO, and of cyclic GMP. Urinary excretion of NO3- and cyclic GMP was increased on the 10th day in the low-sodium group, as compared with the normal- and high-sodium groups. The urinary excretion of cyclic GMP was increased at the 8th week, and NO3- showed a tendency to increase in the low-sodium group, as compared with the high-sodium group. An up-regulation of NO production may explain, at least in part, the antihypertensive effect of sodium restriction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Laboratory Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nanbu
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohtsuka
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin / Q000652:urine; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000652:urine; D004039:Diet, Sodium-Restricted; D008297:Male; D009566:Nitrates / Q000652:urine; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000652:urine; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012083:Renin / Q000097:blood; D012982:Sodium, Dietary / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D009566:Nitrates; D012982:Sodium, Dietary; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D012083:Renin; D006152:Cyclic GMP; D009638:Norepinephrine