Effect of a chronic high-salt diet on whole-body and organ sodium contents of Dahl rats

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Abstract
To evaluate whether a high-salt diet causes retention of Na in Dahl rats. To compare the whole-body and organ (liver, spleen, kidney, heart, lung, femur, submaxillary gland and muscle) Na contents in Dahl salt-sensitive rats and Dahl salt-resistant rats. Rats aged 6–10 weeks of both strains were fed a normal-salt (0.4% NaCl) or a high-salt (8% NaCl) diet. The whole-body and organs were then ashed and their respective Na contents determined. Salt-resistant rats fed the normal-salt diet had a higher whole-body Na content than did salt-sensitive rats. The high-salt diet increased the whole-body Na content of salt-sensitive rats significantly, but it did not increase that of salt-resistant rats. The high-salt diet caused a significant increase in the organ weight: body weight ratio for all organs of the salt-sensitive rats, except the submaxillary gland, but had no effect on the ratios for salt-resistant rats, apart from that for the kidney. The kidney, submaxillary gland and muscle Na concentrations were greater in salt-sensitive rats than they were in salt-resistant rats. Nonetheless, regardless of strain, the high-salt diet had no effect on organ and plasma Na concentrations. The high-salt diet increased the organ weights (liver, spleen, kidney, heart and lung) and the organ Na contents per kg body weight significantly for salt-sensitive rats but not for salt-resistant rats. A high-salt diet caused Na retention in salt-sensitive rats only and this was partially due to enlargement of the organs.