EFFECT OF SUPPLEMENTAL DIETARY CALCIUM ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF DOCA-SALT HYPERTENSION IN WEANLING RATS

This study characterizes the response to dietary calcium in DOCA-salt hypertension. Body weight, systolic blood pressure, and total serum calcium levels were compared among normotensive control rats, DOCA-salt hypertensive rats treated with calcium carbonate (CaCO3) augmentation, and DOCA-salt hypertensive rats without supplementary dietary calcium. Dietary calcium augmentation prevented the rise of blood pressure that is normally produced by DOCA-salt. Attenuation in systolic blood pressure was independent of weight loss or total serum calcium and may be linked to alterations in calcium homeostasis that are seen in both human and experimental hypertension. Thus this study provides important data that may assist in further explicating the role that alterations in calcium homeostasis play in DOCA-salt hypertension. Further, these data may also be important in the identification of a nonpharmacological intervention for testing in humans.