Sodium appetite in rats after prolonged dietary sodium deprivation: a sexually dimorphic phenomenon

Little sodium appetite is observed when rats are deprived of dietary sodium for several days, presumably because aldosterone secretion minimizes renal sodium losses. However, the present studies indicate that when sodium deprivation is extended to 8 days, a spontaneous sodium appetite results that far exceeds urinary sodium losses during the deprivation period; indeed, adult male rats drank as much 0.5 M NaCl solution as rats ever have been reported to drink rapidly. In contrast, female rats drank much less saline after 8 days of sodium deprivation. Because of this sexual dimorphism in sodium appetite, we also studied NaCl intake in gonadectomized rats after 8 days of sodium deprivation. Both male and female gonadectomized rats drank comparable amounts of saline as intact male rats, but they consumed much less when treated with physiological amounts of estrogen during the sodium-deprivation period. These results indicate that a robust appetite for NaCl can be produced in rats by prolonged sodium deprivation and that estrogen can blunt the induced sodium appetite.