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. 2021 Apr;12(4):658-663.
doi: 10.1111/jdi.13376. Epub 2020 Oct 31.

Potassium supplementation blunts the effects of high salt intake on serum retinol-binding protein 4 levels in healthy individuals

Fuqiang Liu  1   2   3   4   5 , Ronghuai Zhang  1   3 , Wei Zhang  1   3 , Ling Zhu  1   3 , Qi Yu  4   5 , Zhongwei Liu  1   3 , Yong Zhang  1   3 , Shuo Pan  1   3 , Yang Wang  2 , Chao Chu  2 , Li Hu  1 , Qingyu Wang  1   4 , Jiadong Yu  1 , Jianjun Mu  2 , Junkui Wang  1   3
Affiliations

Potassium supplementation blunts the effects of high salt intake on serum retinol-binding protein 4 levels in healthy individuals

Fuqiang Liu et al. J Diabetes Investig. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Aims/introduction: Excessive dietary salt or low potassium intakes are strongly correlated with insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. In epidemiological and experimental studies, increased serum retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) contributes to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Herein, we hypothesized that RBP4 might be an adipocyte-derived "signal" that plays the crucial role in salt-related insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to assess whether salt consumption and potassium supplementation influence serum RBP4 levels in healthy individuals.

Materials and methods: A total of 42 participants (aged 25-50 years) in a rural area of Northern China were successively provided normal (3 days at baseline), low-salt (7 days; 3 g/day NaCl) and high-salt (7 days; 18 g/day) diets, and a high-salt diet with potassium additive (7 days; 18 g/day NaCl and 4.5 g/day KCl). Urinary sodium and potassium were measured to ensure compliance to dietary intervention. Then, RBP4 levels were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results: High salt intake significantly raised serum RBP4 levels in healthy participants (17.5 ± 0.68 vs 28.6 ± 1.02 µg/mL). This phenomenon was abrogated by potassium supplementation (28.6 ± 1.02 vs 17.6 ± 0.88 µg/mL). In addition, RBP4 levels presented positive (r = 0.528, P < 0.01) and negative (r = -0.506, P < 0.01) associations with 24-h urinary sodium- and potassium excretion levels.

Conclusions: RBP4 synthesis is motivated by high salt intake and revoked by potassium supplementation. Our pioneer work has contributed to the present understanding of salt-induced insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Keywords: Dietary intervention; Insulin resistance; Retinol-binding protein 4.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of dietary intervention.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of salt intake and potassium supplementation on serum retinol‐binding protein 4 levels.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The potential mechanism of diet‐induced insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease. RBP4, retinol‐binding protein 4; TNF‐α, tumor necrosis factor‐α.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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