Salt and Hypertension - What's the Connection?

Recent research has she dlight on the linkage between salt intake and blood pressure regulation.

The study has been conducted by researchers at the University of Erlangen, the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch and Regensburg, in collaboration with scientists from Finland and Austria

High Dietary Intake Of Salt Ups Hypertension, Stroke Risk
Increased dietary intake of salt, more than the recommended intake of 2.8 g for active young people and 2.2 for older adults, pose a high risk to hypertension and strokes.

Within the skin, they have detected a new storage area for salt in the body. They also found out that if the process behind this storage is defected, animals become hypertensive.

Salt is responsible for water regulation in the body. It is taken up by the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract and, in large part, excreted by the kidneys.

However, salt is also stored in cells and in the interstitium, the area between cells in the body.

Losing Weight and Reducing Salt may Help Resistant Hypertension Patients
People with resistant hypertension should lose their weight and cut salt and alcohol intake, suggest physicians.

Dr. Jens Titze and colleages have now shown that a high-salt diet in rats leads to the accumulation of salt in the interstitium in the skin. This process is carefully regulated by special white blood cells, the macrophages.

In those macrophages, the scientists found a gene regulator (transcription factor) called TonEBP (tonicity-responsible enhancer binding protein). TonEBP is activated in these cells in response to high salt and turns on a gene (VEGF-C - vascular endothelial growth factor C) that controls the production of lymphatic blood vessels. With high-salt diet the lymphatic vessels increase.

Salt Can Put People In A Better Mood
A new study has found that salt can put people in a better mood. So forget doling out loads of cash on therapist's fee or anti-depressants pills.

The researchers found that when these macrophages are depleted or if the receptor for VEGF-C is absent, the animals are not able to "store their salt" and become hypertensive.

However, this process and its relevance to human disease are not yet completely understood, researchers said.

Salt Content in Fast Food Unacceptably High in Australia
The salt content in such popular fast foods as KFC chicken and Hungry Jack’s burgers is unacceptably high in Australia.

The study is published in Nature Medicine.

Source-ANI
TAN/L