Potassium supplementation ameliorates increased plasma homocysteine induced by salt loading in normotensive salt-sensitive subjects

The mechanism by which high-salt and low-potassium diet contributes to hypertension remains poorly understood. Plasma homocysteine (Hcys) is recognized as a primary mediator of blood pressure (BP) response to some diets. Therefore, the present study tried to investigate whether plasma Hcys and BP co...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhaofei Wan, Keyu Ren, Wen Wen, Dong Zhou, Junhui Liu, Yan Fan, Yue Wu, Jianjun Mu, Zuyi Yuan, Feng Gao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2017-11-01
Series:Clinical and Experimental Hypertension
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10641963.2017.1334793
Description
Summary:The mechanism by which high-salt and low-potassium diet contributes to hypertension remains poorly understood. Plasma homocysteine (Hcys) is recognized as a primary mediator of blood pressure (BP) response to some diets. Therefore, the present study tried to investigate whether plasma Hcys and BP could be regulated by salt loading in normotensive salt-sensitive (SS) persons, and further explored whether potassium supplementation could reverse the effect. We enrolled 47 normotensive subjects, aged 29–65 years. The protocol included 7 days on a low-salt diet (3g/day, NaCl), 7 days on a high-salt diet (18g/day), and then a high-salt diet with potassium supplementation (4.5g/day) for 7 days. After high-salt intake, BP was significantly increased and potassium supplementation lowered it in the SS group. Plasma Hcys were higher in SS subjects than in salt-resistant (SR) subjects after salt loading (34.4 ± 17.0 μmol/L versus 19.16 ± 6.4 μmol/L, P < 0.01). Plasma Hcys in SS subjects was increased on a high-salt diet than on a low-salt diet (34.4 ± 17.0 μmol/L versus 16.5 ± 8.3 μmol/L, P < 0.01), but plasma Hcys was ameliorated by potassium supplementation (34.4 ± 17.0 μmol/L versus 20.9 ± 10.4 μmol/L, P < 0.01). In SS subjects, the change of mean arterial blood pressure (MBP) correlated significantly and positively with the alteration of plasma Hcys during low-salt to high-salt intake and high-salt to high-salt with potassium supplementation (r = 0.75, P < 0.001; r = 0.74, P < 0.001, respectively). Our results indicate that Hcys may partly mediate the impact of high-salt intake and potassium supplementation on BP in SS subjects.
ISSN:1064-1963
1525-6006