Change in salt intake affects blood pressure of chimpanzees: implications for human populations.
BACKGROUND
Addition of up to 15.0 g/d salt to the diet of chimpanzees caused large rises in blood pressure, which reversed when the added salt was removed. Effects of more modest alterations to sodium intakes in chimpanzees, akin to current efforts to lower sodium intakes in the human population, are unknown.


RESULTS
Sodium intakes were altered among 17 chimpanzees in Franceville, Gabon, and 110 chimpanzees in Bastrop, Tex. In Gabon, chimpanzees had a biscuit diet of constant nutrient composition except that the sodium content was changed episodically over 3 years from 75 to 35 to 120 mmol/d. In Bastrop, animals were divided into 2 groups; 1 group continued on the standard diet of 250 mmol/d sodium for 2 years, and sodium intake was halved for the other group. Lower sodium intake was associated with lower systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressures in Gabon (2-tailed P<0.001, unadjusted and adjusted for age, sex, and baseline weight) and Bastrop (P<0.01, unadjusted; P=0.08 to 0.10, adjusted), with no threshold down to 35 mmol/d sodium. For systolic pressure, estimates were -12.7 mm Hg (95% confidence interval, -16.9 to -8.5, adjusted) per 100 mmol/d lower sodium in Gabon and -10.9 mm Hg (95% confidence interval, -18.9 to -2.9, unadjusted) and -5.7 mm Hg (95% confidence interval, -12.2 to 0.7, adjusted) for sodium intake lower by 122 mmol/d in Bastrop. Baseline systolic pressures higher by 10 mm Hg were associated with larger falls in systolic pressure by 4.3/2.9 mm Hg in Gabon/Bastrop per 100 mmol/d lower sodium.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings from an essentially single-variable experiment in the species closest to Homo sapiens with high intakes of calcium and potassium support intensified public health efforts to lower sodium intake in the human population.
Elliott
Paul
P
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College London, Faculty of Medicine, St. Mary's Campus, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK. p.elliott@imperial.ac.uk
Walker
Lesley L
LL
Little
Mark P
MP
Blair-West
John R
JR
Shade
Robert E
RE
Lee
D Rick
DR
Rouquet
Pierre
P
Leroy
Eric
E
Jeunemaitre
Xavier
X
Ardaillou
Raymond
R
Paillard
Francoise
F
Meneton
Pierre
P
Denton
Derek A
DA
D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure; D004039:Diet, Sodium-Restricted; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013045:Species Specificity