Volume 89, Issue 5, May (2003), pp. 713-724 © The Author 2003
doi:10.1079/BJN2003833

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The effect of nutrient profiles of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diets on blood pressure and bone metabolism and composition in normotensive and hypertensive rats

Lorna Doyle¹ and Kevin D. Cashman^1,2,*
1Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences and ²Department of Medicine, University College, Cork, Ireland

 (Received 9 May 2002–Revised 22 November 2002–Accepted 2 January 2003)

Hypertension has been associated with abnormalities of Ca and bone metabolism. Consequently, dietary strategies aimed at reducing blood pressure may also benefit bone health; however, this issue has received little attention. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of two antihypertensive-type diets on blood pressure and bone metabolism and composition in normotensive (Wistar-Kyoto NHsd, WKY) and hypertensive (spontaneously hypertensive NHsd, SHR) rats. Thirty WKY and thirty SHR male rats, 14 weeks old, were separately randomized by weight into three groups of ten rats each. One group from each strain was given a control diet while the other two groups were fed two anti-hypertensive (high fruit and vegetable (F/V) and high fruit and vegetable and low-fat dairy produce (combination)) diets for 8 weeks. SHR rats were significantly (P<0·01) heavier than WKY rats. Blood pressure and femoral length, width, dry weight, ash, Ca, Mg, P and bone mineral mass were significantly (P<0·0001) greater in SHR than WKY rats, but were unaffected by diet, irrespective of strain. While markers of bone formation (serum osteocalcin) and bone resorption (urinary pyridinoline and deoxypyridinoline) were similar in both strains, these markers were significantly (P<0·05) lower (28–31, 16–23, 31–33 % respectively) in the SHR rats fed the combination diet relative to those fed the control and F/V diets. Bone turnover in WKY rats was unaffected by diet. In conclusion, these findings suggest that the combination diet may benefit bone metabolism in hypertensive animals. However, as blood pressure was unaffected by this diet, the mechanism by which it reduced bone turnover requires further investigation.

Keywords:
Hypertension: Dietary intervention