Short-Term High-NaCl Dietary Intake Changes Leukocyte Expression of VLA-4, LFA-1, and Mac-1 Integrins in Both Healthy Humans and Sprague-Dawley Rats: A Comparative Study

Figure 6

Graphical abstract. The effects of short-term excessive dietary salt intake on the immune system functions (schematic overview). This figure presents the likely effects of increased dietary salt intake on the immune system. In our previous work, in both human and animals, we have demonstrated that short-term HS diet-mediated inhibition of the RAAS leads to impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilatation due to increased oxidative stress and reduced NO bioavailability [12–14]. This could also lead to endothelial activation resulting in increased cell adhesion molecule expression (i.e., ICAM-1 and 2, VCAM-1, and E-selectin), chemokine and cytokine secretion, and thus leukocyte attraction, activation, and extravasation into the tissue [13, 53]. This is supported by the results of the present study where we found significant changes of integrin expression (LFA-1, VLA-4, and Mac-1) on the surface of peripheral blood leukocytes which may lead to their specific interaction with CAMs on activated endothelial cells. Additionally, it has been shown that increased salt intake enhances sympathetic activity and leads to an increase in peripheral vascular resistance; however, this effect could also be a source of activated leukocytes since it has been shown that increased splenic sympathetic innervation results in splenocyte activation through adrenergic beta 3 receptors [54–56].