Objective: To study blood pressure, renal urinary sodium excretion and related renal sodium channels and signaling pathways in male and female mice, and to preliminarily explore the relationship between sex differences in blood pressure and renal sodium channels.
METHODS: Adult male and female mice were selected, and the blood pressure of the mice was detected by a non-invasive blood pressure meter, the blood and urine sodium ion concentrations were measured by a flame spectrophotometer, and the sodium chloride symporter ( NCC), sodium potassium chloride symporter (NKCC2), epithelial sodium channel (ENaC), and upstream lysine-deficient serine-threonine protein kinase (WNK kinase) mRNA levels.
RESULTS: The blood pressure of female mice was lower than that of male mice, and the urinary sodium excretion was higher than that of male mice. The mRNA and protein levels of NCC and NKCC2 were significantly increased, but ENaC was not significantly different, WNK4 was significantly increased, and WNK1 was not different.
Conclusion: The lower blood pressure in female mice than in male mice may be caused by the increased urinary sodium excretion in female mice, and the WNK4-NCC/NKCC2 signaling pathway is involved in its regulation.