Protective Roles of Corin Against High Salt-induced Renal Damage

Introduction and Hypothesis: Dietary sodium and potassium affect the fluctuation of blood pressure and renal function. With its activity to convert pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (pro-ANP) to biologically active ANP, corin regulates blood pressure, cardiac and renal functions. We hypothesize that corin plays an essential role in ameliorating the high salt-induced renal damage through its regulation of salt and water homeostasis. Methods and Results: Forty-two volunteers (28-65 years of age) were intervened with three sequential diets: a low salt diet (3.0 g/day NaCl) for 7 days, a high salt (HS) diet (18.0 g/day NaCl) for 7 days, followed by a high salt diet with potassium supplementation (18.0 g/day NaCl and 4.5 g/day KCl) for 7 days. The systolic blood pressure and urinary microalbumin level (U-MALB) of the 42 subjects were augmented in the period of HS diet compared to those at the baseline level (117.3±2.7 mmHg vs. 108.7±1.8 mmHg, pu003c0.05; 8.21±0.89 mg/day vs. 4.89±0.34 mg/day, pu003c0.05). Such changes we...