Effects of salt loading on glucose tolerance, blood pressure, and albuminuria in rats with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

We studied the effects of salt loading on glucose tolerance, blood pressure, and albuminuria in rats with mild non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Two-day-old male Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats were injected intraperitoneally (IP) with either 75.0 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) or vehicle as control. Salt loading was performed as 1% NaCl of drinking solution from 4 weeks until 12 weeks of age (estimated sodium intake: control, 3.14 +/- 0.28 mEq/d in tap-water group, 11.9 +/- 0.95 mEq/d in salt-loaded group; NIDDM, 2.93 +/- 0.16 mEq/d in tap-water group, 12.0 +/- 2.59 mEq/d in salt-loaded group). Oral glucose tolerance, glycosylated hemoglobin (GHb), and pancreatic insulin content at 12 weeks did not differ between the salt-loaded group and tap-water group in both NIDDM and control rats. Urinary sodium excretion was increased in salt-loaded groups of control and NIDDM rats, but systolic blood pressure did not differ among the groups (control, 151 +/- 6 mm Hg in tap-water group, 150 +/- 3 mm Hg in salt-loaded group; NIDDM, 152 +/- 3 mm Hg in tap-water group, 157 +/- 2 mm Hg in salt-loaded group). Urinary albumin excretion was significantly increased in salt-loaded groups (1,790 +/- 272 micrograms/d in control, 1,617 +/- 174 micrograms/d in NIDDM rats) compared with tap-water groups (691 +/- 75 micrograms/d in control, P less than .05; 616 +/- 69 micrograms/d in NIDDM rats, P less than .001), irrespective of STZ injection, but endogenous creatinine clearance was not different among the groups. Furthermore, renal growth was more greatly increased in salt-loaded groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)