Blood pressure of alloxan diabetic rats at regular and high salt intake

To identify any relationship between diabetes mellitus and high salt intake in the production of hypertension, we studied the effect of a regular and high salt diet on blood pressure in rats made diabetic with alloxan. The diabetic animals developed marked hyperglycemia, glycosuria, and azotemia out of proportion to changes in glomerular filtration rate. Non-diabetic rats and diabetic rats on a high salt intake in excess of 14 mEq/day developed modest but significant increases in blood pressure, while diabetic rats on a regular diet did not. We conclude that diabetic rats have no greater susceptibility to salt-induced hypertension than rats receiving only salt. Although it is possible that dehydration may have served to attenuate blood pressure increases in our diabetic animals, the diabetic state per se does not appear to result in severe hypertension in the rat regardless of sodium intake.