title: Salt intake is associated with inflammation in chronic heart failure.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) is highly prevalent and is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. It has been well established that excessive intake of sodium chloride (salt) induced hypertension in some populations. Although salt seems to induce cardiovascular diseases through elevation of blood pressure, it has also been indicated that salt can induce cardiovascular diseases independently from blood pressure elevation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present study aimed to evaluate the association between salt consumption and inflammation in CHF patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted on 86 patients between 18 and 65 years old who were diagnosed with New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class I and II heart failure. Salt intake was calculated by using 24 hour urine sodium excretion. Besides, the association between inflammation and daily salt intake was evaluated regarding C - reactive protein (CPR), High sensitive CRP (HsCPR), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), and ferritin and fibrinogen levels using Pearson correlation analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results showed a statistically significant difference between the low (n = 41) and high (n = 45) salt intake groups in terms of serum HsCRP levels (5.21 ± 2.62 vs. 6.36 ± 2.64) (P < 0.048). Additionally, a significant correlation was observed between the amount of salt consumption and HsCRP levels. In this study, daily salt consumption of the enrolled patients was 8.53 gram/day. The medications and even the blood pressures were similar in the two groups, but daily pill count, prevalence of hypertension, and coronary heart disease were higher in the high salt intake group; however, the differences were not statistically significant (P = 0.065). Also, no significant difference was observed between the groups concerning the inflammation markers, such as CRP, ESR, ferritin, and fibrinogen.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Neurohumoral and inflammatory factors are thought to contribute to high mortality and morbidity rates in CHF. Yet, inflammatory markers may early diagnose CHF and predict the prognosis. Excessive salt intake also worsens the inflammation as well as volume control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Ankara Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Alper
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Azak
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Ankara Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bulent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Huddam
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Namik
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gonen
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Seref Rahmi
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Ankara Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gulay
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kocak
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Ankara Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duranay
keywords: Heart Failure; Inflammation; Sodium Dietary