Abstract: AIM: To establish a new salt hypertensive rat model and to investigate the effects of high-salt diet on changes of blood pressure and arterial structural in normal Wistar rats.METHODS: 27 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups after weaning (3 weeks):normal salt diet group and high salt diet group which were given normal (0.5 % NaCl) or high (4 % NaCl) salt diet for 18 weeks.Tail-cuff systolic blood pressure and body weight were examined.At the end of the treatment, arterial vessels were prepared by perfusion fixation.Vascular dimension in thoracic artery, renal artery and small mesenteric artery were measured.RESULTS: There was no significant difference in body weights between two groups before and after feeding.After eight weeks high salt diet treatment, tail-cuff systolic blood pressure was significantly higher than that in normal salt diet group, and the difference became more significant in the following day.Direct measurement of mean blood pressure in right carotid artery at the end of the experiment confirmed the results obtained by the tail-cuff method. The media thickness, media thickness to lumen diameter ratios and cross-section area in aorta, renal artery and small mesenteric artery were significantly higher in high salt diet group than that in the normal salt diet group.But there was no significant difference in lumen diameters in any of the arteries among two groups.Heart weight index was significantly higher in high salt diet group than that in normal salt diet group.CONCLUSION: Long-term high salt diet can induce hypertension in normal Wistar rats. The increased blood pressure is associated with the hypertrophy of heart and arteries in this new hypertension model.This model is similar to human hypertension induced by high salt diet.

Key words: hypertension, salt, artery remodeling, vascular remodeling, hypertensive rat