Decrease of the salt appetite of spontaneously hypertensive rats by chronic application of almitrine.
The effect of almitrine on salt appetite, water intake, and renal excretory function was investigated in conscious adult spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) of both sexes. The animals were kept singly in metabolic cages and given free access to food, water and 2.5% NaCl-solution. Oral administration of almitrine (0.4 mg/kg) for five days evoked an effective long-lasting suppression of voluntary salt intake and a temporary decrease of water intake. The pattern of renal electrolyte excretion was determined by the pattern of intake. The present results support the assumption that the activity of the peripheral arterial chemoreceptors plays an essential role in the maintenance of voluntary salt intake in SHR.
Almitrine↗