Abstract: AIM: To observe the different role of aldosterone in cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac fibrosis.METHODS: The salt-Sensitive hypertensive rats induced by sensory denervation by injecting capsaicin were used to study the cardiac remodeling.The rats were divided into 4 groups and subject to the following treatment for4 months: Control+normal salt diet (0.5 %Nacl) (CON+NS);capsaicin +normal salt diet(CAP+NS);capsaicin+high salt diet (4 %Nacl) (CAP+HS);capsaicin +high salt diet +Spironolactone (CAP+HS+S,80mg·kg^-1·d^-1).Tail-cuff systolic blood pressure and body weight were measured statedly.At the end of experiment,left ventricularweight index,cardiac muscle pathology morphology,invasive cardiac function and serum concentration of hyaluronic acid (HA) and procollagen typeⅢ(PCⅢ) were examined.RESULTS: Tail-cuff systolic blood pressure,serum concentration of HA and PCⅢ,LVSPand LVEDPwere lowerin CAP+HS+S grouPthan in CAP+HS group.There were no marked differences in left ventricularweight index,myocyte short diameterand isovolumetric relaxation period Time constant(T value) between the two groups,but significantly higherthan controls.It was seen that cardiac muscle fibrillarcollagen was lessen in CAP+HS+S group.CONCLUSION: Aldosterone is involved in the development of hypertension and the process of cardiac induce by high salt intake,but it is not involved in the process of cardiac hypertrophy which also induce by high salt intake.

Key words: sodium, cardiac remodeling, hypertension, aldosterone, spironolactone