High salts intake, cardiovascular system and kidney in spontaneous hypertensive rats

Abstract

Objective. To study the influence of diet containing high or normal NaCl on the arterial blood pressure level (BP), heart rate (HR), processes of myocardial remodeling and of nuclear transcription factor kB (NFkB) expression in myocardium and kidney in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Design and methods. The two groups of male SHRs received a diet with normal (0.34 %; n = 24, control) and high content of NaCl (8.0 %; n = 25; experimental group) for 2 months. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), cardiac left ventricular mass index (LVMI), left (LKMI) and right (RKMI) kidney mass indexes were determined. Morphological study of myocardium (light microscopy), including quantitative morphometry was carried out. In part of animals the relative level of NFkB gene expression in heart and kidney tissues was studied. Results and discussion. In rats fed a diet containing 8 % NaCl BP and HR did not change significantly compared with the control. However, LVMI, RKMI, LKMI were significantly higher in high-salt diet-treated animals than in controls. The heart of high-salt diet-treated animals developed the changes leading to hypertrophy and possibly hyperplasia of cardiomyocytes. In these animals, perivascular fibrosis, significant increase of arterial wall thickness and vacuolization of smooth muscle cells were revealed. The relative level of NFKB gene expression in rats receiving high-salt diet was 33-fold higher in myocardium and 12-fold higher in kidneys than in animals fed a normal salt diet. Conclusion. The high-salt diet is not necessarily accompanied by an increase in blood pressure, but causes myocardial remodeling, apparently due to direct «toxic» effects. The negative impact on the cardiovascular system of high-salt diet is in part mediated through NFkB-associated signaling pathways. Furthermore, high NaCl diet causes activation of NFkB in the kidneys.