Abstract 142: A Fructose-but Not a Glucose-enriched Diet, Induces a Salt-dependent Increase in Blood Pressure and Enhances NKCC2 Phosphorylation in Normal Rats

Abstract

Human consumption of fructose as a sweetener has increased in the past 30 years. High fructose intake has been implicated in the development of hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. In the US, the upper 10th percentile of the population consumes up to 40% of their caloric intake from added sugars, in which fructose represents half of these. Fructose metabolism is strikingly different from that of glucose. Yet, the effect of a fructose or glucose-enriched diet in salt handling by the kidney, affecting blood pressure, and its interaction with high salt intake has been poorly studied. In genetic models of salt-sensitive hypertension, the activity of the Na + /K + /2Cl - cotransporter (NKCC2) in the thick ascending limb (TAL) is abnormally enhanced. We hypothesized that chronic fructose in drinking water induces a salt-dependent increase in blood pressure and stimulates NKCC2 during high salt intake in normal rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were given 20% fructose or 20% glucose in drinking water for 1 week after which a high salt (HS) diet (4% Na + in chow) was started for 3 weeks. When we measured systolic blood pressure (SBP) by tail cuff plethysmography in fructose-fed and glucose-fed rats on a HS diet, only the fructose-fed rats had an increased SBP from 120±10 to 132±6 mmHg on day 7 of HS (p<0.01). SBP continued to increase up to 144±18 mmHg after 3 weeks (p<0.01 vs glucose). Fructose or glucose alone did not increase SBP after 4 weeks. We then repeated the protocol using radiotelemetry to monitor the blood pressure (BP). In rats fed fructose, by day 5 of HS the SBP increased by 12±3 mmHg (p<0.02) and SBP remained elevated for 3 weeks (delta: 10±2.5 mmHg, n=3). In rats fed glucose, a HS diet did not significantly change SBP for 3 weeks (n=5). Moreover, NKCC2 activity in the TAL is enhanced by phosphorylation at Thr96, 101. We found that NKCC2 phosphorylation was higher in rats fed fructose plus HS (p<0.02) but not in rats fed glucose plus HS for 3 weeks (HS: 100, fructose+HS: 250±40%, glucose+HS: 95±10%). Therefore, we conclude that a high fructose (but not a glucose) diet in normal rats induces a salt-dependent increase in BP independently from caloric intake. Thus, the increase in BP may in part be due to the stimulation of NKCC2 phosphorylation in the TAL by fructose.