SUMMARY NAD(P)H oxidase has been shown to be important in the development of salt-sensitive hypertension. Here we show that the expression of a subunit of NAD(P)H oxidase, p67phox, was increased in response to a high salt diet in the outer renal medulla of the Dahl salt-sensitive (SS) rat, an animal model for human salt-sensitive hypertension. The higher expression of p67phox, not the other subunits observed, was associated with higher NAD(P)H oxidase activity and salt-sensitivity in SS rats compared with a salt-resistant strain. Genetic mutations of the SS allele of p67phox were found in the promoter region and contributed to higher promoter activity than that of the salt-resistant strain. To verify the importance of p67phox, we disrupted p67phox in SS rats using zinc finger nucleases technology. These rats exhibited a significant reduction of salt-sensitive hypertension and renal medullary oxidative stress and injury. p67phox could represent a target for salt-sensitive hypertension therapy.

Sequential changes in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) during development of hypertension in the conscious Dahl salt-sensitive (SS) rat were determined using a new method for measurement. Utilizing a miniaturized device, disappearance curves of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-sinistrin were measured by transcutaneous excitation and real time detection of the emitted light through the skin. Rats with implanted femoral venous catheters (dye injection and sampling) and carotid catheters (mean arterial pressure (MAP) by telemetry) were studied while maintained on a 0.4% NaCl diet and on days 2,5,7,14 and 21 after switching to 4.0% (HS) diet. A separate group of rats were maintained on 0.4% for 21 days as a time control. MAP rose progressively from the last day of 0.4% (130±2 mmHg) reaching significance by day 5 of HS and averaged 162±7 mmHg by day 21. Urine albumin excretion was significantly elevated (3×) by day 7 of HS in SS rats. GFR became reduced on day 14 of HS falling from 1.53±0.06 ml/min/100g bwgt to 1.27±0.04. By day 21, GFR had fallen 28% to 1.1±0.04 ml/min/100g bwgt (t1/2 28.4±1.1 min.) No significant reductions of creatinine clearance (Ccre) were observed throughout the study in response to HS demonstrating the insensitivity of Ccre measurements even with creatinine measured using mass spectrometry. We conclude that the observed reduction of GFR was a consequence and not a cause of the hypertension and that this non-invasive approach could be used in these conscious SS rats for a longitudinal assessment of renal function.

Tubulointerstitial injury and the loss of NOS occur after birth and parallel the development of hypertension. We suggest that the structural and functional changes that occur with renal injury in the Dahl-SS rat may contribute to the development of hypertension.

Jr. Dynamic convergence and divergence of renal genomic and biological pathways in protection from Dahl salt-sensitive hypertension.

Studies of transcriptome profiles have provided new insights into mechanisms underlying the development of hypertension. Cell type heterogeneity in tissue samples, however, has been a significant hindrance in these studies. We performed a transcriptome analysis in medullary thick ascending limbs of the loop of Henle isolated from Dahl salt-sensitive rats. Genes differentially expressed between Dahl salt-sensitive rats and salt-insensitive consomic SS.13BN rats on either 0.4% or 7 days of 8% NaCl diet (n=4) were highly enriched for genes located on chromosome 13, the chromosome substituted in the SS.13BN rat. A pathway involving cell proliferation and cell cycle regulation was identified as one of the most highly ranked pathways based on differentially expressed genes and by a Bayesian model analysis. Immunofluorescent analysis indicated that just one week of a high salt diet resulted in a several fold increase in proliferative medullary thick ascending limb cells in both rat strains and that Dahl salt-sensitive rats exhibited significantly greater proportion of medullary thick ascending limb cells in a proliferative state than in SS.13BN rats (15.0% ± 1.4% vs. 10.1% ± 0.6%, n=7–9, P<0.05). The total number of cells per medullary thick ascending limb section analyzed was not different between the two strains. The study revealed alterations in regulatory pathways in Dahl salt-sensitive rats in tissues highly enriched for a single cell type, leading to the unexpected finding of a greater increase in the number of proliferative medullary thick ascending limb cells in Dahl salt-sensitive rats on a high-salt diet.