Dahl Salt-Sensitive Rat Hypertension Model

All animal procedures and protocols described in this study were approved by the University of Toledo Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Animal experiments were performed in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. The inbred Dahl salt-sensitive (SS/Jr or S) rat strain was from stocks maintained in our animal facility at our institution. Rats were weaned at 28–30 days of age and fed with a low-salt diet (0.3% NaCl, TD 7034, Harlan Teklad). High-salt diet (2% NaCl, TD 94217, Harlan Teklad) was used for experiments involving a high-salt regimen. Only male rats were used for the current study, in order to match the blood pressure QTL inference drawn from the previous study [20 (link)] conducted using male rats. In each phenotypic study, any different experimental rat groups were concomitantly bred and co-housed to minimize environmental effects.