Effect of hypertension on arterial wall electrolytes during desoxycorticosterone administration.

Administration of desoxycorticosterone and NaCl resulted in an increased sodium and potassium content of the aorta in rats becoming severely hypertensive. Equivocally hypertensive animals on this regimen showed smaller increases in sodium and a decrease in potassium. Sodium restriction prevented both hypertension and changes in arterial wall chemistry from occurring in rats receiving desoxycorticosterone. Hypertension per se may be fundamentally associated with an increased potassium and sodium content in artery, as experimental renal hypertension is characterized by a similar electrolyte alteration.