Hormonal Factors Influencing Salt Appetite in Pregnancy

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Abstract
The selective appetite of wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus (L)) for 500 mEq/1 solutions of NaCl, KC1, MgCl2 and CaCl2 was studied during pseudopregnancy or during daily treatment with 17β-estradiol dipropionate (E2) and/or progesterone. The animals were individually caged and external sodium balances were performed. An increase in NaCl appetite occurred from the 11th to the 25th day after the initiation of pseudopregnancy and during treatment with 12.5, 25 or 250 μg E2/day. The response to E2 was maximal with 25 μg/day. While daily treatment with 1 mg progesterone was without influence on any of the parameters measured, this amount enhanced the effect of E2 on NaCl intake. A small but significant rise in CaCl2 intake was observed between days 5 and 16 of pseudopregnancy. The voluntary drinking of KCl and CaCl2 was increased by E2 given either alone or with progesterone. Similar to our previous studies of pregnancy, the metabolic balance studies showed that all instances of increased NaCl intake occurred without any preceding change in urinary sodium output. Thus it was not the result of treatment causing a body sodium deficit which was thereupon corrected by increased voluntary intake. The results provide further evidence for the hypothesis that the increased salt appetite of pregnancy is hormonal in origin, and not caused by sequestration of sodium in the tissues of the developing young. (Endocrinology93: 423, 1973)

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