Sodium Intake and Vascular Stiffness in Hypertension

The relationship between sodium and blood pressure (BP)continues to be the focus of intense research. In humans, the impact of sodium on systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP), mean BP, and pulse pressure (PP) is currently thought to be quite similar for the 4 pressures and to occur practically with identical consequences (see reviews1–8). In this review, the effect of sodium on SBP is taken into consideration mainly for a very simple but important reason: in recent years, SBP and PP have become the parameters the most difficult to control in hypertensive subjects, which is the principal goal of most antihypertensive drugs.1 Central (aortic) SBP is a complex parameter that is influenced both by cardiac (stroke volume and ventricular ejection) and vascular (arterial and venous stiffness and wave reflections) factors.1 Stroke volume, the ratio between cardiac output and heart rate, depends not only on cardiac structure