Salt preference of congenic strains derived from the spontaneously hypertensive rat

Previous studies using reciprocal crosses between the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) and the normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) strain suggested a role for the Y chromosome in the SHR's exaggerated preference for saline solutions. We have reexamined the role of the Y chromosome in the salt preference of the SHR using a consomic strain derived from SHR and Brown Norway (BN-Lx) progenitors. We also studied congenic lines in which regions of BN-Lx chromosomes 8 and 20 had been introgressed into the SHR genome. Animals were given a choice of water and 0.9% saline to drink over a period of 7 days and their total fluid intake (TFI; water plus saline) and saline preference (proportion of the TFI taken as saline) calculated. SHR bearing the BN-Lx Y chromosome had a significantly reduced saline preference when compared to progenitor SHR. Evidence was also found for the existence of a region on chromosome 8, which influences fluid intake in the SHR. The causative genes involved in these effects however remain to be determined.