Perinatal High Salt Diet Impaired Vasodilatation Via Reprogramed Renin-angiotensin System In Offspring Rats

Aims: High salt(HS)diets are linked to hypertension,and prenatal HS diets increased risks of cardiovascular diseases in the offspring.The present study investigated whether and how prenatal HS diets influenced nitric oxide-mediated vasodilatation in offspring.Methods and results: Pregnant rats were fed with 8% salt diet and the control was fed with standard food for whole gestation.The experiments were conducted at 5 months of age in male offspring.Sodium nitroprusside(SNP)induced hypotensive responses and vascular dilatation was significantly attenuated in the HS offspring.Pre-treatment with Tempol(reactive oxygen species scavenger)could improve this attenuation.The HS offspring showed an increased oxidative stress in the mesentary artery and serum.The local renin-angiotensin system(RAS)in mesentary arteries was activated,and the DNA methylation level of the proximal promoter of angiotensin-converting enzyme gene in the lung was significantly increased in the HS offspring.Conclusions: The results suggested that prenatal HS diet impaired nitric oxide-mediated vasodilatation probably due to the increased oxidative stress-reprogramed RAS in the offspring.