Blood Pressure Elevation and Renal Pathology in Rats Fed Simulated Japanese Diets

Abstract

Albino rats fed diets composed of Japanese foods for 6 to 12 months had significantly higher systolic blood pressures than control rats fed a standard laboratory ration. Addition of NaCl or soy sauce to the standard ration in amounts calculated to match the Na intake afforded by the Japanese diets did not have a hypertensive effect. Reduction of the molar Na/K ratio of the Japanese diets by addition of KCl or by removal of sources of Na decreased but did not abolish the elevations of blood pressure. Hypertensive rats fed the Japanese diets consistently showed elevations of serum total cholesterol concentration, cardiac and renal hypertrophy, and renal pathology involving a characteristic glomerular lesion, tubular damage, and “renal failure” casts.