Subtle Acquired Renal Injury as a Mechanism of Salt-Sensitive Hypertension

Abstract

Salt sensitivity is present in about half of people with essential hypertension; decreasing salt intake ameliorates the hypertension. This review provides an explanation of how initially subtle renal injury promotes a tendency toward hypertension. The kidneys, initially normal in many persons with early primary hypertension, sustain subclinical injury over time, resulting in arteriolosclerosis and tubulointerstitial disease that lead to established hypertension.