title: Dietary sodium intake induced myenteric neuron hypertrophy in Wistar rats.
abstract: In the present study we investigated the effect of salt intake on myenteric neuron size of the colon of adult male Wistar rats. The animals were placed on either a high-salt (HS; 8%; 12 animals) or a low-salt diet (LS; 0.15%; 12 animals) for 15 or 52 weeks and blood pressure was measured. The sizes of myenteric neurons of the distal colon from both groups were measured. No difference in neuron size was observed between the HS and LS groups after 15 weeks. After 52 weeks on HS, neuron size was increased (P<0.005) when compared with the LS group. The rats also presented hypertension, which was significantly different at 52 weeks (142 +/- 11 vs 119 +/- 7 mmHg). These results suggest that a long time on an HS diet can significantly increase myenteric nerve cell size.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Anatomia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil. rrdsouza@icb.usp.br
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: De Souza
authors.forename: E F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Gama
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Heimann
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Maifrino
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Liberti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003106:Colon / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000294:innervation; D008058:Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000139:chemically induced; D008297:Male; D009197:Myenteric Plexus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012982:Sodium, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D012982:Sodium, Dietary; D008058:Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase