Conclusions
In the present study, we demonstrate that young, normoalbuminuric and normotensive male patients with type 1 diabetes show a salt-sensitive BP response to HSD, which is absent in matched healthy controls. Although both groups showed a mean increase in plasma volume, CO, NT-proBNP, and HR, responses were more homogeneous and, accordingly, only statistically significant in the patient group with type 1 diabetes, despite the smaller group size. Stroke volume as well as the aldosterone:PRA ratio did not change in response to HSD in both groups.
Despite the mean±2 L HSD-induced ECFV increases in our study, these increases did not reach statistical significance. Although this may be the result of a power problem, the change appeared to be similar in both groups and therefore does not seem to have caused the differential BP response. This is in line with the absence of a correlation between ECFV and BP changes. The ±2.5 kg increase in body weight after HSD in both groups may reflect the ECFV increase, yet contributions of increases in intracellular fluid volume or body fat mass29 cannot be excluded with certainty. It may be noted that a recent study did not find any difference in ECFV after 1-week dietary salt loading in healthy individuals, in which the difference between LSD and HSD approximated 8 g (vs ±18 g in our study).30 The similarity in ECFV in patients with type 1 diabetes and healthy controls on LSD and HSD is consistent with previous studies in normoalbuminuric patients with type 1 diabetes, since only in the presence of advanced chronic kidney disease ECFV was increased.11 31
The mechanisms underlying the observed plasma volume response in patients with type 1 diabetes need further exploration. It may reflect increased sodium retention caused by (exogenously administered) insulin, given its sodium-retaining effects.32 The extent of volume retention in response to salt is also interlinked with the extent to which individuals are able to store sodium without concurrent water retention in certain compartments of their body.33 Titze et al has shown that a significant amount of sodium can be stored in tissues like the skin, in concentrations that far exceed plasma levels.34 High interstitial sodium content is known to be present in a variety of salt-sensitive conditions like type 2 diabetes,35 chronic kidney disease,36 and hypertension,37 and may preclude further sodium buffering in response to a salt overload. Whether there is an effect of exogenous insulin on sodium storage is yet unknown but may be worth exploring.32 It remains to be determined whether in patients with type 1 diabetes reduced sodium storage capacity in response to salt loading underlies their response in plasma volume. Volume retention was also shown to be associated with vasodysfunction in salt-sensitive healthy individuals.38 Laffer et al showed that salt-resistant individuals show a decrease in systemic vascular resistance after salt loading by mechanisms not yet completely elucidated but possibly involving nitric oxide-related effects or neural pathways.38 39 In the present study, a significant decrease in systemic vascular resistance could, however, not be demonstrated, possibly due to the heterogeneity in BP responses in healthy controls (ie, seven out of 12 healthy controls showing a BP increase and five showing a decrease) (table 1). However, the trend towards a decrease in systemic vascular resistance in healthy controls and the absence of a decrease in patients with type 1 diabetes might point to vasodysfunction in the latter, which would be in accordance with recent concepts, proposing that vasodysfunction rather than impaired renal sodium excretion is the key causal factor in a salt-sensitive BP rise.14 38 The nature of the increase in NT-proBNP may lie in pressure overload as well as volume expansion, although we could not demonstrate a correlation between changes in NT-proBNP and BP, systemic vascular resistance, or plasma volume in the present study (data not shown).
The HSD-induced increase in HR in our study is surprising and in contrast with a recent meta-analysis of 63 randomized controlled trials that showed a 2.4% increase in HR with salt reduction rather than with salt loading.40 Reasons for this remain to be established, but may involve differences in measurement methods or conditions (in our case, non-invasive continuous hemodynamic monitoring after at least 15 min of supine rest), study population, or the nature of the salt intervention. The higher plasma osmolality in type I diabetes may have caused the HR increase, as it has been shown that plasma osmolality rises increase sympathetic nerve activity.41 42
Finally, HSD increased 24-hour urine volume in patients with type 1 diabetes but not in healthy controls. As the increased diuresis was not accompanied by differences in changes of solute-free water clearance, solute-mediated water clearance, or electrolyte-free water clearance compared with healthy controls, differences may be caused by differences in fluid intake. In both groups, HSD resulted in an increase in free water retention as evidenced by the negative solute- and electrolyte-free water clearance, likely reflecting osmotically stimulated vasopressin release.
With regard to the excessive cardiovascular risk of patients with type 1 diabetes, which is importantly mediated by hypertension development,43 our data bear clinical importance. It underlines the importance of avoidance of excessive salt intake, as recommended in this patient group.43 Also, the observed increased sensitivity to salt may contribute to the increased cardiovascular risk of these patients even independent of BP, since it has been shown that individuals who are normotensive on the longer term but have been previously tested as salt sensitive show increased mortality, although by mechanisms still unknown.44 It should be noted that the extent of salt reduction needs further research. Paradoxically, a 1-week LSD has been demonstrated to induce relative hyperfiltration in the kidney in patients with type 1 diabetes.8 Also, cohort studies showed increased mortality with highest but also with lowest salt intake in patients with type 1 diabetes45 and in patiens with type 2 diabetes,46 although possibly hampered by inaccurate estimations of salt intake and confounding.47 48
The major strength of our study is that—to our knowledge—we are the first to measure body fluid composition in conjunction with BP after salt loading in patients with type 1 diabetes using validated and precise PK methods, instead of relying on estimations based on body weight or bioimpedance methods that can be troubled by several factors.49 Furthermore, we included a well-matched control group and subjected study participants to a randomized dietary protocol that adheres to recent recommendations.18 However, certain study limitations need to be considered. The small sample size generates the possibility of a type II error. Notwithstanding possible effects on BP, volume and hemodynamic responses in healthy controls that could have been observed with a larger sample size, effect sizes in patients with type 1 diabetes were more pronounced and homogeneous, suggesting a more pronounced salt-sensitive phenotype. It should be noted that this study is not established to provide causal assessment between the observed BP increase and responses in body fluid composition and hemodynamics, among others, since there were no sequential measurements before and during BP responses. For example, it has been shown that increases in plasma volume33 50 or CO do not automatically lead to BP increases (reviewed in Kurtz et al14). Our study serves as a hypothesis-generating study that precisely characterized responses to dietary salt loading in patients with type 1 diabetes. For underlying mechanisms, future studies specifically aimed at this question should be performed. Also, since only male subjects were included, future studies are needed to explore whether our results can be extrapolated to females. Lastly, we did not control fluid intake; therefore, underlying reasons for the observed differences in urine volume cannot be identified with certainty.
In conclusion, we demonstrated that young normotensive normoalbuminuric male patients with type 1 diabetes are more sensitive to the effects of salt intake on BP than healthy individuals. The salt-sensitive BP rise in patients with type 1 diabetes was accompanied by significant increases in plasma volume, CO, HR, and NT-proBNP. Future studies are needed the scrutinize underlying mechanisms—like sodium storage capacity—in order to be able to ultimately unravel the susceptibility to hypertension and cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetes.