Nicholson's team was looking for more evidence linking salt with high blood pressure.
One link they found was a compound called formic acid or formate.
"Not much is known about what the role is of formic acid in the body. It's the thing that makes ant stings hurt and bee stings as well," Nicholson said.
It may be involved in processing chloride from salt in the kidney, Nicholson said.
"It means maybe if you modulate formate metabolism you can modulate blood pressure," he said.
They also found that people with higher levels of an amino acid called alanine in their urine had higher blood pressure. The same team had earlier shown that people who eat more meat and other animal products had higher alanine levels.
