INCREASED SALT PREFERENCE IN ADULT OFFSPRING RAISED BY MOTHER RATS CONSUMING EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF SALT AND WATER

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of an early high-salt environment on the maternal and the young offspring physiology and on the adult offspring sodium appetite. Twenty-five adult female Wistar r ats were pseudorandomly divided into two groups. Twelve animals underw ent a partial ligature of their abdominal aorta (PAL). Once polydipsia and sodium appetite (tested by measuring water and a 2.7% NaCl intake s) developed, they were mated. The other 13 rats (SHAM) were sham-oper ated and also mated. Throughout pregnancy and lactation, water and sal t intake of PAL rats was consistently and significantly higher than th at of the Sham. On gestation day 20, amniotic fluid and maternal plasm a sodium concentration of PAL and Sham rats did not differ. Sodium con centration in the milk of the lactating PAL group was elevated (P < 0. 05) on day 20 after delivery. At 0, 10 and 21 days of age, plasma sodi um concentration of PAL offspring (PAL-O) and Sham offspring (Sh-O) we re not significantly different. At 90 days of age, the salt preference of PAL-O rats was greater than that of Sh-O rats after 7 days of sodi um deprivation (P < 0.01).