A comparative study of renal function in the desert-adapted spiny mouse and the laboratory-adapted C57BL/6 mouse: Response to dietary salt load

The desert adapted spiny mouse has a significantly lower glomerular number, increased glomerular size, and a more densely packed renal papillae compared to the similarly sized, laboratory adapted C57BL/6 mouse. In the present study we examined the functional consequences of these structural differences in young adult male spiny and C57BL/6 mice and detailed the impact of one week of a high salt (10 NaCl w/w) diet. Basal food and water intake, urine and faeces production, and urinary electrolyte concentrations were not different between species, although urinary urea concentrations were higher in spiny mice (P