Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Corresponding Author: Shane A. Phillips, PT, Ph. The aims of this study were to 1 test the hypothesis that short-term high salt HS intake reduces macro and micro vascular endothelial function in the absence of changes in blood pressure and 2 to determine if acute exercise restores endothelial function after HS in women. Subcutaneous fat tissue biopsies were obtained at baseline and after HS and after WL.
Resistance arteries RA from biopsies were cannulated for vascular reactivity measurements in response to flow FID and acetylcholine ACh. Blood pressure was similar before and after HS diet. These data suggest that 1 HS intake reduces brachial artery endothelial function and switches the mediator of vasodilation in the microcirculation to a non-nitric oxide dependent mechanism in healthy adults and 2 acute exercise may switch the dilator mechanism back to NO during HS diet.
Keywords: high salt diet, endothelium, resistance exercise, flow mediated dilation, microcirculation. During the past two decades, it has become more widely accepted that high dietary salt intake represents a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular CV disease that is independent [ 1 , 2 ] of its association to increased arterial blood pressure [ 3 β 6 ].
Recent studies in normotensive animals [ 7 β 9 ] and in humans [ 10 , 11 ] have revealed that a key-feature of this pressure-independent effect of high dietary salt intake is its adverse impact on endothelial function. Endothelial dysfunction is thought to be a precursor to CV disease, and is one of the earliest detectable outcomes in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis and hypertension [ 3 , 5 ].
Studies in animal models have demonstrated that high dietary salt intake significantly alters vascular reactivity in conduit vessels and the microcirculation and the likely mechanism is reduced NO bioavailability [ 7 , 8 , 12 ]. However, studies of high dietary sodium intake on vascular function in humans have shown more conflicting results.
