Bmal1 contributes to mean blood pressure rhythms in rats on a low salt diet

Abstract

Bmal1 is a core component of the molecular clock which is responsible for generating circadian rhythms in many physiological parameters, including blood pressure (BP). Sodium intake can affect circadian rhythms, as high salt consumption can increase BP and alter the expression of the molecular clock. However, the effect of low salt consumption on the circadian rhythm of BP and hormones crucial to sodium homeostasis has not been extensively studied. Using a whole-body Bmal1-knockout (KO) rat, we wanted to determine the contribution of the molecular clock to circadian BP rhythms during low salt diet (LSD, 0.0049%).We hypothesized that Bmal1-KO rats on a LSD would have lower mean BP and higher aldosterone levels in comparison to littermate controls on LSD. Male and female Bmal1-KO rats and littermate controls (WT) had telemeters implanted in the abdominal aorta at 8-10 weeks old. After a 10-day surgical recovery period, BP was continuously recorded while rats were maintained on ad libitum normal salt diet (0.49% NaCl, NSD) for 1 week. Rats were placed in metabolic cages and 12-hour urine samples collected at ZT0 and ZT12 for two days. Next, rats were placed on LSD for one week while maintaining BP measurements. This was again followed by two day, 12-hour urine collections. BP was averaged hourly and analyzed for circadian rhythmicity (cosinor). The MESOR for mean arterial pressure was significantly higher in WT (n=10, 4/10 male) and KO groups (n=8, 4/8 male) on NSD (WT: 108±2 mmHg; KO: 104±2 mmHg) compared to LSD (WT: 104±2 mmHg; KO: 102±2 mmHg; p<0.05 for diet, 2-way ANOVA). BP amplitude was significantly higher in WT rats (NSD: 7.6±0.6 mmHg; LSD: 6.9±0.7 mmHg) compared to KO rats (NSD: 5.2±0.4 mmHg; LSD: 5.3±0.9 mmHg) (p<0.05 for genotype). BP acrophase was similar between groups on both diets. Urinary aldosterone excretion (ELISA) was similar between WT and KO rats on NSD (Daytime: WT 26±5 pg/12hrs, KO 16±1 pg/12hrs; Nighttime: WT 48±8 pg/12hrs, KO 46±4 pg/12hrs) and on LSD (Daytime: WT 95±38 pg/12hrs, KO 109±44 pg/12hrs; Nighttime: WT 174±63 pg/12hrs, KO 155±47 pg/12hrs), with statistically significant overall effects of diet and time of day (p<0.05, 3-way ANOVA). Together, these data support a role for Bmal1 in control of BP amplitude in rats on NSD and LSD. This does not appear to involve changes in aldosterone since urinary excretion followed predicted patterns by time of day and salt diet, but were not impacted by loss of Bmal1 in ad libitum fed rats. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.