Salt handling and hypertension

The kidney plays a central role in our ability to maintain appropriate sodium balance, which is critical to determination of blood pressure.In this review we outline current knowledge of renal salt handling at the molecular level, and, given that Westernized societies consume more salt than is required for normal physiology, we examine evidence that the lowering of salt intake can combat hypertension.Nonstandard abbreviations used: chloride channel, kidney B (CLC-KB); Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH); epithelial sodium channel (ENaC); mineralocorticoid receptor (MR); pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1 (PHA1); reninangiotensin-aldosterone axis (RAAA); sodium chloride cotransporter (NCCT); sodium-potassium-chloride cotransporter (NKCC2); with no lysine (WNK).