Blood pressure and arginine vasotocin in normonatremic and hypernatremic ducks

As a model to study effects of chronic, excessive salt loading on circulation, Pekin ducks were adapted to 2% saline solution as their sole water supply, while fresh-water-adapted animals were used as controls. Due to the development of salt-eliminating glands, salt-adapted ducks are able to cope indefinitely with this salt stress which means a daily ingestion of 5-6 g NaCl per kg body weight per day, associated with a chronic elevation of plasma osmolality and plasma sodium by 5-8% above normal and an up to 3-fold increase of antidiuretic hormone concentration in comparison to animals maintained on fresh water. Salt loading for up to 14 months did neither increase arterial mean, nor diastolic, nor pulse pressure. On the contrary, arterial mean and diastolic pressure were slightly lower in the salt-adapted than in the fresh-water-adapted animals, while pulse pressure and heart rate did not differ. Circulatory adaptation to removal and reinfusion of 10% of the estimated blood volume was identical in salt-water and fresh-water-adapted ducks. It is concluded that even excessive chronic salt loading resulting in chronic hyperosmolality with high plasma levels of sodium and antidiuretic hormone does not alter hemodynamic adaptation, provided that efficient compensating mechanisms are at the animal's disposal.