Abstract
Excessive fructose intake causes a variety of adverse conditions (e.g., obesity, hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance and uric acid overproduction). Particularly, high fructose-induced hypertension is the most common and significant pathological setting, however, its underlying mechanisms are not established. We investigated these mechanisms in 7-week-old male SD rats fed a diet containing 60% glucose (GLU) or 60% fructose (FRU) for 3, 6, or 12 weeks. Daily food consumption was measured to avoid between-group discrepancies in caloric/salt intake, adjusting for feeding amounts. The FRU rats' mean blood pressure was significantly higher and fractional sodium excretion (FENa) was significantly lower, indicating that the high-fructose diet caused salt retention. The FRU rats' kidney weight and glomerular surface area were greater, suggesting that the high-fructose diet induced an increase in extracellular fluid volume. The GLUT5 and ketohexokinase expressions, an enzyme required for fructose metabolism, were up-regulated in FRU. Cortical ATP levels were significantly lower in FRU, which might indicate ATP consumption due to fructose metabolism. Unlike previous reports, the high-fructose diet did not affect NHE3 expression. A gene chip analysis conducted to identify susceptible molecules revealed that only Slc5a10 (corresponding to SGLT5) in FRU showed >2-fold up-regulation versus GLU. RT-PCR and in situ hybridization confirmed the SGLT5 up-regulation. Our findings may indicate that the high-fructose diet increased sodium reabsorption principally through up-regulated SGLT5, finally causing salt-sensitive hypertension.