Short term dietary sodium restriction decreases HDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-I and high molecular weight adiponectin in healthy young men: Relationships with renal hemodynamics and RAAS activation

Background and aimsWe aimed to determine the effect of short-term dietary sodium restriction on plasma total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C, triglycerides, apolipoprotein (apo) A-I, apo B and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin in non-obese, normotensive young men. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR), effective renal plasma flow (ERPF), plasma renin activity (PRA) and aldosterone were also measured.Methods and resultsSixty-five men, aged 23 ± 7 years, were randomly studied on a high sodium intake (HS, 228 ± 77 mmol Na+/24 h) and a low sodium intake (LS, 36 ± 27 mmol Na+/24 h), each period lasting 1 week. LS decreased GFR and ERPF and increased PRA and aldosterone (p < 0.0001 for all). LS also induced a decrease in HDL-C (3.8 ± 10.8%), apo A-I (3.7 ± 6.5%) and HMW-adiponectin (13.6 ± 40.5%) (p < 0.05 for all), but plasma total cholesterol, LDL-C, triglycerides and apo B did not significantly change. The changes in HDL-C and apo A-I were correlated negatively to the changes in effective renal plasma flow (p < 0.05), whereas the changes in HMW adiponectin were correlated negatively to the changes in PRA and aldosterone (p < 0.05 for both).ConclusionShort term sodium restriction modestly decreases HDL-C, apo A-I and HMW-adiponectin in healthy men. Changes in GFR and ERPF and in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system as induced by LS may be involved in these responses.