Regional blood flows in salt loading hypertension in the dog

An intravenous infusion of isotonic sodium chloride, 196 ml/kg per day, was administered for several days to eight dogs with their renal mass reduced. Mean arterial pressure, cardiac output (electromagnetic flowmeter), and regional blood flows (radioactive microspheres) were measured sequentially and the results compared with those obtained in six control dogs. The salt-loaded animals exhibited on the 1st day of the infusion a 25% increase of arterial pressure and cardiac output. Blood flows to the kidney, the splanchnic area, the skin, and the bone were not significantly changed, whereas skeletal muscle blood flow almost doubled. After several days, cardiac output returned toward control values but pressure remained elevated. Skeletal muscle blood flow, as most other regional flows, did not differ significantly from control values at that time. In four dogs studied 6 h after starting a faster saline infusion, most of the increase in cardiac output was also distributed to the skeletal muscle. Total peripheral resistance changes did not reflect the resistance of individual beds, because vasoconstriction appeared early in some areas but was masked by prominent, although transient, vasodilation in skeletal muscle.