New study reveals how salt helps spike blood pressure

A new study has recently provided a deeper insight into how salt affects brain circuit leading to rise in blood pressure (BP).

An international research team led by scientists at McGill University has found that excessive salt intake "reprograms" the brain, interfering with a natural safety mechanism that normally prevents the body's arterial blood pressure from rising. Professor Charles Bourque of McGill's Faculty of Medicine said that a period of high dietary salt intake in rats caused a biochemical change in the neurons that released vasopressin (VP) into the systemic circulation.

This change, which involves a neurotrophic molecule called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), prevented the inhibition of these particular neurons by other cells, he further added.

Researchers found that high salt intake prevents the inhibition of VP neurons by the body's arterial pressure detection circuit. The disabling of this natural safety mechanism allows blood pressure to rise when a high amount of salt is ingested over a long period of time.

The study is published in the journal Neuron. 

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