Renal Function Studies in the Early Stage of Salt Hypertension in Rats.

Summary Renal function studies were performed in 2 groups of young rats from a strain genetically prone to hypertension. The animals receiving a high NaCl diet rapidly developed moderate hypertension, while those maintained on a low NaCl regimen remained normotensive. GFR and RPF were comparable in both groups, 2 and 6 weeks after initiation of the high salt regimen, in spite of significant differences in blood pressure. It was concluded that the development of salt hypertension in these rats was not associated with evidence of impaired glomerular filtration rate or renal plasma flow during the early phases of the disease.