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Nutrients
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Salt and Cardiovascular Health
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Salt and Cardiovascular Health

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 June 2025 | Viewed by 2026

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Athanase D. Protogerou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Cardiovascular Prevention & Research Unit, Clinic & Laboratory of Pathophysiology, Department of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15772 Athens, Greece
Interests: arterial hypertension; central haemodynamics; arterial stiffness; aortic pressure; cardiovascular health; subclinical vascular damage; salt and cardiovascular disease; high cardiovascular risk populations
Dr. Kalliopi Karatzi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Interests: dietary behavior; dietary patterns; atherosclerosis; hypertension; cardiovascular; vascular health; arterial stiffness; endothelial dysfunction; blood pressure; childhood/adult hypertension; childhood/pediatric obesity; nutraceuticals; nutritional counselling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Subclinical vascular damage precedes the onset of CVD, hence its detection and therapy are of paramount importance for CVD prevention strategies. Sodium is a micronutrient mainly found in salt, that is consumed in multiple higher-than-recommended quantities, and has an aggravating role in CVD development. This is at least partly mediated via an increase in arterial blood pressure; however, other pathways, including increased inflammatory response, have been proposed to participated in the development of CVD. Despite the crucial impact that sodium intake has on CVD and blood pressure, there are still many questions and issues that seek answers, both in research as well as clinical practice, with easily applicable methods to accurately quantify the daily dietary intake, methods to motivate and educate individuals in order to recognize the problem and take preventive actions, identify salt-sensitive individuals at a higher risk for CVD or hypertension. Community- and food industry-oriented interventions are necessary to improve adherence to international guidelines regarding the daily consumption of sodium.

The objective of this Special Issue of Nutrients is to gather original articles examining all the above facets of the problem, starting from the pathophysiology and epidemiology to the clinical implementation and community education regarding the detrimental role of sodium in CV health and blood pressure. Likewise, relative reviews and meta-analysis in the field are also welcome for this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Athanase D. Protogerou
Dr. Kalliopi Karatzi
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • salt intake
  • dietary sodium intake
  • sodium intake assessment
  • salt intake assessment
  • salt sensitivity
  • sodium-induced inflammatory response
  • sodium-induced immune response
  • cardiovascular health
  • hypertension
  • subclinical vascular damage

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 225 KiB  
Article
Dietary Sodium Consumption and 3-Year Progression of Subclinical Arterial Damage in Adults with Cardiovascular Risk Factors
by Eirini D. Basdeki, Kalliopi Karatzi, Yannis Manios, Petros P. Sfikakis, Antonios A. Argyris and Athanase D. Protogerou
Nutrients 2025, 17(5), 808; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17050808 - 26 Feb 2025
Viewed by 534
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Available data regarding associations between sodium (Na) intake and biomarkers of subclinical arterial damage (SAD) are scarce. This study aimed to investigate the possible associations between Na intake and the 3-year progression of SAD in subjects with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Available data regarding associations between sodium (Na) intake and biomarkers of subclinical arterial damage (SAD) are scarce. This study aimed to investigate the possible associations between Na intake and the 3-year progression of SAD in subjects with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. Methods: Participants underwent CVD risk assessment, vascular assessment [arterial stiffness by pulse wave velocity (PWV), and atheromatosis, as the existence of carotid and/or femoral plaques], anthropometric measurements [at baseline and 3-year follow-up (FU)], and dietary assessment at FU. Results: A total of 675 adults (47.9% males, 55.02 ± 13.79 years) were included. Na daily consumption quartiles (Qs) ranged from very low consumption in Q1 (811.72 ± 241.81 mg) up to twice the recommendations in Q4 (3487.92 ± 1025.92 mg). No statistically significant associations were observed between Na intake and changes in SAD biomarkers, after adjustment for age, sex, presence of hypertension, presence of dyslipidemia, smoking, mean arterial pressure, BMI, chronic inflammatory diseases, and energy intake. The results remained the same, even after the assessment of misreporting and the correction of Na intake. Conclusions: Dietary Na intake was not significantly associated with changes in PWV and carotid or femoral plaques, even in the high Q that was twice as high as the recommended intake. Research in different additional adult cohorts is needed to further investigate whether Na consumption independently affects vascular health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Salt and Cardiovascular Health)
14 pages, 705 KiB  
Article
Postprandial Vascular Effects of a High Potassium Meal in Patients with Treated Hypertension
by Daniela Malta, Sam Esfandiari, Livia A. Goldraich, Johane P. Allard and Gary E. Newton
Nutrients 2025, 17(1), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17010045 - 27 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1013
Abstract
Background: There is compelling evidence of an inverse association between potassium intake and blood pressure (BP). A potential mechanism for this effect may be dietary potassium-mediated augmentation of endothelium-dependent relaxation. To date, studies have investigated potassium intake supplementation over several weeks in healthy [...] Read more.
Background: There is compelling evidence of an inverse association between potassium intake and blood pressure (BP). A potential mechanism for this effect may be dietary potassium-mediated augmentation of endothelium-dependent relaxation. To date, studies have investigated potassium intake supplementation over several weeks in healthy volunteers with variable results on vascular function. There is no assessment of the acute vascular effects of potassium supplementation achieved by the ingestion of potassium-rich food in a hypertensive population. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a high potassium meal on postprandial endothelial function as measured by flow-mediated dilatation (FMD). Methods: We performed an investigator-blinded randomized crossover trial in 33 treated hypertensive individuals. Participants consumed both a high (~2400 mg) and low (~543 mg) K+ meal, separated by a one-week washout period. The primary endpoint was endothelial function as assessed by FMD pre-meal and postprandially at 60 and 120 min. Meals were compared at each time point using the Hills–Armitage approach. Results: 33 individuals were included in the study (48% male, mean age 68). In the fasting state (Baseline), and at 60 min postprandial, radial artery FMD was not significantly different between the participants after consumption of either meal (baseline: high K+ 4.2 ± 2% versus Low K+ 2.6 ± 3%, p = 0.93; 60 min: high K+ 3.8 ± 4% versus Low K+ 4.1 ± 3%, p = 0.69). However, at 120 min, FMD tended to be higher in participants after the high K+ meal (5.2 ± 4.1%) than after the low K+ meal (3.9 ± 4.1%) (p = 0.07). There were no differences in participants’ radial artery diameter and blood flow between meals. Conclusions: This study does not support our hypothesis that a single high K+ meal improves vascular function in individuals with treated hypertension. This does not contradict the clinical evidence relating greater K+ intake with lower BP, but suggests that mechanistic investigations of increased K+ intake through diet alone and its impact on endothelial function as a mediator to reducing BP are complex and not simply due to single nutrient-mediated improvement in vascular function. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Salt and Cardiovascular Health)
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