Sodium deprivation growth failure in the rat: alterations in tissue composition and fluid spaces

Dietary control of sodium intake was utilized in weanling rats to study the relationships among body growth, tissue composition and extracellular fluid volume (ECFV). Forty 3-wk-old rats were divided into groups receiving 30, 150, 300, 600 or 900 mu eq sodium/d for 5 wk. The minimal daily requirement for normal growth was 300 mu eq Na, or about 60 mu eq/g of new growth. Lower doses caused dose-related growth failure associated with a reduced ECFV. Analyses of carcass, muscle and bone composition were carried out. In sodium-deprived animals there was retarded growth of protoplasm, fat and bone; the mineral composition of muscle was not altered, whereas in bone calcium concentration was reduced. Plasma concentrations of sodium, potassium and chloride remained normal. Pair-feeding indicated that sodium-deficiency growth retardation could not be attributed to starvation. Sodium-deficient animals ingested a greater amount of food per gram of weight gain, possibly reflecting an increased energy expenditure. Sodium deprivation initially permitted protoplasmic growth to proceed at a rate disproportionate to that of the ECFV. Subsequently, both continued to grow at a reduced but similar rate, suggesting that ECFV may be a controller of protoplasmic growth.