Effect of chronic sodium loading on cardiovascular response in young blacks and whites

The effect of long-term oral sodium loading on blood pressure and on stress-induced cardiovascular response was studied in normotensive and marginally hypertensive young adults. The 121 subjects, 18-23 years old, included 38 whites and 83 blacks. Blood pressure and heart rate response to the stress of mental arithmetic was measured before and after 14 days of sodium load, which consisted of 10 g NaCl/day added to the usual diet. A sodium-sensitive response to sodium load occurred in 18.4% of whites and 37.3% of blacks. Sodium-insensitive subjects had a higher rate of sodium excretion (p less than 0.001). Sodium-sensitive hypertensive subjects had a significantly greater weight gain (p less than 0.001). A significant correlation between blood pressure change and sodium excretion (r = -0.28, p less than 0.01) occurred in the sodium-sensitive group. The high sodium intake did not augment the blood pressure or heart rate response to the beta-adrenergic-mediated stimulus of mental arithmetic in the population when grouped by blood pressure, race, or sodium sensitivity. These results suggest that blood pressure increase in response to sodium load, particularly in blacks, is related to functional changes in peripheral vascular resistance.