The link between chemoreceptor activity and voluntary salt intake in spontaneously hypertensive rats: a hypothesis

The effect of normobaric hyperoxia on voluntary salt intake was investigated in conscious male SHR (n = 16). The animals were housed individually in metabolic cages and given free access to food, water and 2.5% NaCl-solution. The exposure of the rats to 40% oxygen in nitrogen for four days resulted in a significant enhancement of the salt intake. The present experiment further clarifies the relationship between chemoreceptor activity and salt intake. Hypobaric hypoxia as well as the pharmacological substance almitrine, both stimuli of the carotid bodies, decrease the voluntary salt intake in SHR significantly, whereas hyperoxia, characterized by lowering of the chemoreceptor activity, increases the salt intake. Our studies support the hypothesis that chemoreceptor activity has a modulating influence on salt appetite in SHR.