JCI Insight. 2026 Apr 23:e200841. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.200841. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
High dietary salt intake elevates blood pressure and drives multi-organ damage. However, the molecular programs underlying progressive organ injury remain poorly defined. Here, we present a longitudinal multi-organ transcriptomic atlas of salt-induced hypertensive injury. We profiled kidney cortex, kidney medulla, heart, and liver across four stages spanning early hypertension to advanced pathology in Dahl salt-sensitive rats. We identified dynamic and tissue-specific molecular trajectories, including a shared early proliferative response that converges on proinflammatory and fibrotic remodeling. Notably, we uncovered compartment-specific renal responses, showing that the cortex and medulla, despite their proximity, follow distinct molecular trajectories during disease progression. We further identified 79 stage- and tissue-specific transcription factors that drive gene expression dynamics in salt-induced hypertensive injury. Integration with human genome-wide association studies revealed conserved pathways in endocrine signaling, ion transport, lipid metabolism, and detoxification, establishing cross-species relevance and highlighting mechanistic targets of clinical importance. Compound-transcriptome analysis revealed stage- and organ-specific therapeutic opportunities, prioritizing kinase and epigenetic modulators as candidates to rebalance maladaptive gene programs. Overall, this study provides a resource for understanding molecular mechanisms from early salt-induced hypertension to tissue-specific injury and underscores the need for precision interventions.
PMID:42024450 | DOI:10.1172/jci.insight.200841