Complementary role of adrenal cortex and salt in adrenal-regeneration hypertension

¹ Urban Maes Research Laboratory and Department of Pathology, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana

The relationship between salt ingestion and regenerating adrenal cortical tissue in the genesis of adrenal-regeneration hypertension has been studied by varying the content of sodium chloride in the diet from 2.5 to 10%. Results indicate that adrenal-regeneration hypertension is the product of an interplay between the hypertensive potentials of sodium chloride and regenerating adrenal cortical tissue. In young, female rats, enucleation and subsequent regeneration of the adrenal cortex has a hypertensive potential of itself which may be inhibited by low salt ingestion, overshadowed by excessively high salt ingestion and optimally demonstrated by salt consumption approximating 5% of the daily food intake. On the other hand, sodium chloride has an independent hypertensive potential, which is consistently augmented by the presence of a regenerating adrenal gland. Whatever adrenal cortical factors are involved, they are not altered by bilateral adrenal enucleation nor are they mimicked by unilateral adrenalectomy or sham adrenal enucleation.