Figure 4.

Increased salt intake influences peritoneal macrophage cellularity and their effector functions. (a) Mice were exposed to standard drinking water or 1% NaCl in water for 3 weeks prior to peritoneal lavage. Absolute cell numbers of peritoneal macrophages (F4/80⁺/CD11b⁺), 3 weeks after salt exposure. (b) Naïve peritoneal cells were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the absence or presence of external 40 mm NaCl for 20 hr (n = 6). The frequency of live CD11b⁺ cells was assessed by flow cytometry. (c) Cytokine production profile produced by cells described in (b). Cytokine levels are represented as units per frequency of live CD11b⁺ cells. Data show mean ± SEM, and are representative of two independent experiments with similar numbers of mice. A Mann–Whitney U‐test was used, and data were considered significant when P < 0·05 for a 95% confidence interval. *P < 0·05, **P < 0·01, ***P < 0·001.