Diets rich in saturated fat and/or salt differentially modulate atrial natriuretic peptide and renin expression in...

To study the effects of a diet rich in salt and/or saturated fat on atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP)-granules, hypertension, renin expression, and cardiac structure in C57Bl/6 mice.

Young adult male mice were separated into four groups (n = 12) and fed one of the following for 9 weeks: standard chow/normal salt (SC-NS), high-fat chow/normal salt (HF-NS), standard chow/high salt (SC-HS) and high-fat chow/high salt (HF-HS). Alterations in the serum ANP, ultrastructural analysis of cardiomyocytes that produce ANP, structural analysis of the left ventricle, blood pressure, renin expression, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), feed efficiency, and lipid and glucose parameters were examined.

The HF-NS diet showed a small increase in ANP production and left ventricular hypertrophy, increased food efficiency, and abnormal lipid and glucose parameters. The SC-HS diet showed a large increase in ANP granules in myocytes and corresponding elevation in ANP serum levels, left ventricular hypertrophy, hypertension, decrease in renin levels, and increase in GFR. The combination of the two diets (HF-HS) had an additive effect.

The incorporation of a high-fat high-salt diet induced ultrastructural changes in cardiomyocytes, increased the production of ANP and increased its serum level, and reduced the amount of renin in the kidney.