*Article* **Dahl Salt-Resistant Rat Is Protected against Hypertension during Diet-Induced Obesity**

**Soyung Lee 1,2,3,†, Sungmin Jang 1,2,3,†, Jee Young Kim 1,2,3 and Inkyeom Kim 1,2,3,\***


† These authors contributed equally to this work.

**Abstract:** A high-fat diet (HFD) frequently causes obesity-induced hypertension. Because Dahl salt-resistant rats are protected against hypertension after high-salt or high-fructose intake, it is of interest whether this model also protects against hypertension after diet-induced obesity. We tested the hypothesis that Dahl salt-resistant rat protects against hypertension during diet-induced obesity. Dahl salt-sensitive (SS) and Dahl salt-resistant (SR) rats were fed a HFD (60% fat) or a chow diet (CD; 8% fat) for 12 weeks. We measured blood pressure using the tail-cuff method. The paraffin sections of thoracic perivascular adipose tissue (tPVAT) were stained with hematoxylin/eosin and trichrome. The expression of genes in the tPVAT and kidneys were measured by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The HFD induced hypertension in SS (*p* < 0.01) but not SR rats, although it increased body weight gain (*p* < 0.05) and tPVAT weight (*p* < 0.01) in both rats. The HFD did not affect the expression of genes related to any of the adipocyte markers in both rats, although SR rats had reduced beige adipocyte marker Tmem26 levels (*p* < 0.01) and increased anti-inflammatory cytokine adiponectin (*p* < 0.05) as compared with SS rat. The HFD did not affect the mRNA expression of contractile factors in the tPVAT of SS and SR rats. SR rats are protected against hypertension during diet-induced obesity. This result implies that the genetic trait determining salt sensitivity may also determine fructose and fat sensitivity and that it is associated with the prevention of hypertension.

**Keywords:** Dahl salt-resistant rat; Dahl salt-sensitive rat; hypertension; obesity; perivascular adipose tissue
