title: High salt intake causes adverse fetal programming--vascular effects beyond blood pressure.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  High salt intake causes hypertension, adverse cardiovascular outcomes and potentially also blood pressure (BP)-independent target organ damage. Excess salt intake in pregnancy is known to affect BP in the offspring. The present study was designed to assess whether high salt intake in pregnancy affects BP and vascular morphology in the offspring.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a standard rodent diet with low-normal (0.15%) or high (8.0%) salt content during pregnancy and lactation. After weaning at 4 weeks of age, offspring were maintained on the same diet or switched to a high- or low-salt diet, respectively. Vascular geometry was assessed in male offspring at 7 and 12 weeks postnatally.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Up to 12 weeks of age, there was no significant difference in telemetrically measured BP between the groups of offspring. At 12 weeks of age, wall thickness of central (aorta, carotid), muscular (mesenteric) and intrapulmonary arteries was significantly higher in offspring of mothers on a high-salt diet irrespective of the post-weaning diet. This correlated with increased fibrosis of the aortic wall, more intense nitrotyrosine staining as well as elevated levels of marinobufagenin (MBG) and asymmetric dimethyl arginine (ADMA).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High salt intake in pregnant rats has long-lasting effects on the modeling of central and muscular arteries in the offspring independent of postnatal salt intake and BP. Circulating MBG and ADMA and local oxidative stress correlate with the adverse vascular modeling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. g.piecha@gmx.de
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Piecha
authors.forename: Nadezda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Koleganova
authors.forename: Eberhard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ritz
authors.forename: Annett
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Olga V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Fedorova
authors.forename: Alexei Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Bagrov
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schirmacher
authors.forename: Marie-Luise
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Gross-Weissmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000473:pathology; D001158:Arteries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary