Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
high-salt diets, estrogen, blood pressure, rats, pregnancy
College
Life Sciences
Department
Physiology and Developmental Biology
Abstract
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one leading cause of death in the United States. High blood pressure (hypertension) is a form of CVD and affects nearly 1 in 3 American adults. Men are more likely than women to develop hypertension until 45 years of age. However, percentages of women diagnosed with hypertension rise to exceed that of men around 45-54 years of age.1 This trend in hypertension is a clear age-related sex dimorphism. The trend suggests that following the onset of menopause, women have a higher risk of hypertension, a risk that continues to rise with age.2-3 Current research with rats have shown that female offspring of rats fed a high-salt diet during pregnancy exhibit a higher blood pressure response to stress than male offspring and those offspring of rats fed a normal salt diet during pregnancy.4 Other studies have discovered that removing the ovaries from female intra-uterine growth restricted (IUGR) rats caused them to have a similar increase in blood pressure response when stressed.5 Given the above facts, it appears that estrogen or some function of the ovary may be playing a role in protecting females from developing hypertension.
Recommended Citation
Wilkinson, Brandon G. and Porter, Dr. James
(2013)
"The Relationship between High-salt and Estrogen on Blood Pressure under Basal and Stressed conditions in the female offspring of Sprague Dawley Rats that were Subjected to High or Normal Salt Diets during Pregnancy,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013:
Iss.
1, Article 1454.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/1454