NUTRIT IONAL DEFICIENCIES AS A CAUSE OF ELEVATED BLOOD PRESSURE IN RATS (WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE

Many recent experimental observations are compatible with the idea that certain types of hypertension may be of metabolic origin and that the effec-tive etiologic mechanism is diminished oxidative activity of the kidney. The close connection between some of the vitamins and metabolic processes ug-gests that vitamin deficiencies might cause a rise in blood pressure by limiting the oxidative capacity of the kidney. Such a possibility has been adopted as a working hypothesis in the present study, attention being given especially to deficiencies of vitamin B since this complex is known to furnish important components of several respiratory enzyme systems. The results indicate that a reduced intake of the entire complex is followed by a slight fall in the blood pressure of rats, whereas a deficiency of only the heat-stable portions of this complex leads to a reversible rise in blood pressure. The discovery by Goldblatt (1) that constriction of the renal arteries is followed by persistent hypertension has been interpreted by some authorities as indicating that "arterial and arteriolar sclerosis of the kidney probably precedes and determine