Rate of activation of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis and sodium intake in rats.

When sodium intake in the rat is reduced abruptly from the typical high level to a very low level (0.02%), sodium excretion falls exponentially, with a half time of 2-3 h. The result is that the rat achieves external sodium balance, in which intake equals excretion, on the new low intake within a few hours. In this study, we assessed the rate of activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis and its contribution to blood pressure during that interval. Plasma renin activity and angiotensin II concentration had risen sharply within 8 h and did not change over the next 40 h. Plasma aldosterone concentration, on the other hand, continued to rise over 48 h. Within 8 h, blood pressure dependency on angiotensin II had increased sharply, as assessed by depressor responses to an angiotensin antagonist (Sar1-Ala8-angiotensin II) and to converting-enzyme inhibition (captopril). The depressor response to neither agent changed over the next 40 h. The pressor response to angiotensin II was blunted significantly b...