Clocking salt in the blood: a link between circadian rhythm and salt balance

The results of new research, Charles Wingo and colleagues at the University of Florida, Gainsville, suggests a link between circadian rhythm and control of sodium (salt) in mice. The hormone aldosterone fixed sodium levels in the blood and helps control blood pressure. It is known that aldosterone regulates sodium levels by controlling the expression of the alpha subunit of the epithelial sodium channel-(alpha-ENAC) in the kidneys, the molecular pathway by alpha-aldosterone levels ENAC module n is not. In a previous study on this topic, Wingo and colleagues that aldosterone-induced expression of circadian genes PER1 hours in mouse cells, but the effects of this induction have not been studied. In this new study, they showed that the protein the gene PER1 (period 1), regulates the expression of alpha-ENAC in the kidneys of mice. It is important that in the absence of period 1, the expression of alpha-ENAC in the kidney of mice was reduced and the loss of sodium in the urine increases. Since the expression of circadian genes PER1 seemed to be a model, the authors argue that circadian time has a role to play in the balance of sodium in the body.
search
search