Paul A Welling, Robert Little, Lama Al-Qusairi, Eric Delpire, David H Ellison, Robert A Fenton, P Richard Grimm
BACKGROUND: Potassium (K+ )-deficient diets, typical of modern processed foods, increase blood pressure (BP) and NaCl sensitivity. A K+ -dependent signaling pathway in the kidney distal convoluted tubule, coined the K+ switch, that couples extracellular K+ sensing to activation of the thiazide-sensitive NaCl cotransporter (NCC) and NaCl retention has been implicated, but causality has not been established. METHODS: To test the hypothesis that small, physiological changes in plasma K+ (PK+ ) are translated to BP through the switch pathway, a genetic approach was used to activate the downstream switch kinase, SPAK (SPS1-related proline/alanine-rich kinase), within the distal convoluted tubule...
March 11, 2024: Hypertension