Excess dietary salt alters angiotensinergic regulation of neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla.

Hypertension. 2008 Nov;52(5):932-7. Adams JM, McCarthy JJ, Stocker SD. “Excess dietary salt intake contributes to or exacerbates some forms of hypertension by increasing sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) and arterial blood pressure (ABP) through angiotensin II (Ang II) type 1 receptor activation in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM)”. The authors tested the hypothesis whether dietary salt alone alters angiotensinergic regulation of neurosn in the RVLM. Microinjection of Ang II into the RVLM significantly increased renal sympathetic nerve activity and mean arterial blood pressure in rats that we allowed to drink water with 0.9% NaCl for 14 days. Blockade of Ang II type 1 receptors in the RVLM significantly reduced renal, splanchnic SNA and mean arterial blood pressure suggesting that neurons in the RVLM that regulate angiotensinergic mechanisms are altered by excess dietary salt.- Madhan