Anion size does not compromise sodium recognition by rats after acute sodium depletion

Amiloride-insensitive sodium taste transduction is severely limited by large anions (i.e., gluconate). We found that in a brief-access taste test, sodium-depleted rats exhibited similar levels of increased licking to several sodium salts regardless of anion but did not increase licking to nonsodium salts compared with water. The enhanced licking of sodium salts was abolished in the presence of amiloride. These results suggest that the amiloride-sensitive taste transduction pathway is not only necessary but that it is also sufficient for sodium identification in rats. Sodium-depleted rats tested with amiloride initiated significantly more trials than nondepleted rats; hence, appetitive behavior was mildly potentiated by depletion, even in the absence of a sodium taste cue. Overall, these findings provide compelling support for the primacy of the amiloride-sensitive taste transduction mechanism and its associated neural pathway in the recognition of the sodium cation.