Tissue sodium excess is not hypertonic and reflects extracellular volume expansion
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Abstract Our understanding of Na+ homeostasis has recently been reshaped by the notion of skin as a depot for Na+ accumulation in multiple cardiovascular diseases and risk factors. The proposed water-independent nature of tissue Na+ could induce local pathogenic changes, but lacks firm demonstration. Here, we show that tissue Na+ excess upon high Na+ intake is a systemic, rather than skin-specific, phenomenon reflecting architectural changes, i.e. a shift in the extracellular-to-intracellular compartments, due to a reduction of the intracellular or accumulation of water-paralleled Na+ in the extracellular space. We also demonstrate that this accumulation is unlikely to justify the observed development of experimental hypertension if it were water-independent. Finally, we show that this isotonic skin Na+ excess, reflecting subclinical oedema, occurs in hypertensive patients and in association with aging. The implications of our findings, questioning previous assumptions but also reinforcing the importance of tissue Na+ excess, are both mechanistic and clinical.
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Altered lymphatic function contributes to subclinical edema that can compromise organ function in conditions including heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and diseases associated with excess tissue sodium storage.
“Recent studies suggest that altered lymphatic function contributes to subclinical edema that can compromise organ function under conditions that include heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (132) and diseases associated with excess tissue sodium storage (133).”
From Transport and Immune Functions of the Lymphatic System. (2025) · cites this paper as [133]
The Discussion (page unavailable) links lymphatic network plasticity to fluid homeostasis and identifies subclinical oedema as a potential influence on organ function. The paper also reports that excess tissue sodium reflects subclinical oedema, but it does not establish that altered lymphatic function causes that oedema. The heart-failure-with-preserved-ejection-fraction example is attached to a different citation, not this source. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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References 47 · Cited by 94
Research works printed but not linked: 36
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- Authors
- Rossitto, G., Mary, S., Chen, J. Y., Boder, P., Chew, K. S., Neves, K. B., Alves, R. L., Montezano, A. C., Welsh, P., Petrie, M. C., Graham, D., Touyz, R. M., & Delles, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Glasgow (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Rossitto, Giacomo
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2020-08-24
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 4222-4222
- ISSN
- 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7445299
- OpenAlex
- W3080577993
- Cited by
- 94
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 4
- FWCI
- 9.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Strathprints: The University of Strathclyde institutional repository (University of Strathclyde) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- British Heart Foundation (RE/18/6/34217, RE/13/5/30177, CH/4/29762)
- Academy of Medical Sciences (NIF004\1010)
- University of Glasgow
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Sodium Intake and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Blood Pressure and Hypertension Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Electrolyte and hormonal disorders
- Keywords
- extracellular volume expansion, sodium homeostasis, hypertonicity, experimental hypertension, aging, high sodium intake, extracellular space
- MeSH terms
- Aging, Animals, Edema, Female, Homeostasis, Humans, Hypertension, Liver, Lung, Male, Myocardium, Organ Specificity, Osmolar Concentration, Potassium, Rats, Inbred WKY, Skin, Sodium, Transcription Factors, Water-Electrolyte Balance
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