Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Apr 8;120(18):2349-2359.
doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvae229.

Dietary salt, vascular dysfunction, and cognitive impairment

Giuseppe Faraco  1
Affiliations
Review

Dietary salt, vascular dysfunction, and cognitive impairment

Giuseppe Faraco. Cardiovasc Res. .

Abstract

Excessive salt consumption is a major health problem worldwide leading to serious cardiovascular events including hypertension, heart disease, and stroke. Additionally, high-salt diet has been increasingly associated with cognitive impairment in animal models and late-life dementia in humans. High-salt consumption is harmful for the cerebral vasculature, disrupts blood supply to the brain, and could contribute to Alzheimer's disease pathology. Although animal models have advanced our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms, additional studies are needed to further elucidate the effects of salt on brain function. Furthermore, the association between excessive salt intake and cognitive impairment will have to be more thoroughly investigated in humans. Since the harmful effects of salt on the brain are independent by its effect on blood pressure, in this review, I will specifically discuss the evidence, available in experimental models and humans, on the effects of salt on vascular and cognitive function in the absence of changes in blood pressure. Given the strong effects of salt on the function of immune cells, I will also discuss the evidence linking salt consumption to gut immunity dysregulation with particular attention to the ability of salt to disrupt T helper 17 (Th17) cell homeostasis. Lastly, I will briefly discuss the data implicating IL-17A, the major cytokine produced by Th17 cells, in vascular dysfunction and cognitive impairment.

Keywords: Cognitive impairment; Endothelial dysfunction; Sodium chloride; Th17 cells.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: none declared.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Powles J, Fahimi S, Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, Shi P, Ezzati M, Engell RE, Lim SS, Danaei G, Mozaffarian D; Global Burden of Diseases N; Chronic Diseases Expert G . Global, regional and national sodium intakes in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis of 24 h urinary sodium excretion and dietary surveys worldwide. BMJ Open 2013;3:e003733. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mente A, O'Donnell M, Rangarajan S, McQueen M, Dagenais G, Wielgosz A, Lear S, Ah STL, Wei L, Diaz R, Avezum A, Lopez-Jaramillo P, Lanas F, Mony P, Szuba A, Iqbal R, Yusuf R, Mohammadifard N, Khatib R, Yusoff K, Ismail N, Gulec S, Rosengren A, Yusufali A, Kruger L, Tsolekile LP, Chifamba J, Dans A, Alhabib KF, Yeates K, Teo K, Yusuf S. Urinary sodium excretion, blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and mortality: a community-level prospective epidemiological cohort study. Lancet 2018;392:496–506. - PubMed
    1. Mozaffarian D, Fahimi S, Singh GM, Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, Engell RE, Lim S, Danaei G, Ezzati M, Powles J; Global Burden of Diseases N; Chronic Diseases Expert G . Global sodium consumption and death from cardiovascular causes. N Engl J Med 2014;371:624–634. - PubMed
    1. Afshin A, Sur PJ, Fay KA, Cornaby L, Ferrara G, Salama JS, Mullany EC, Abate KH, Abbafati C, Abebe Z, Afarideh M, Aggarwal A, Agrawal S, Akinyemiju T, Alahdab F, Bacha U, Bachman VF, Badali H, Badawi A, Bensenor IM, Bernabe E, Biadgilign SKK, Biryukov SH, Cahill LE, Carrero JJ, Cercy KM, Dandona L, Dandona R, Dang AK, Degefa MG, El Sayed Zaki M, Esteghamati A, Esteghamati S, Fanzo J, Farinha C, Farvid MS, Farzadfar F, Feigin VL, Fernandes JC, Flor LS, Foigt NA, Forouzanfar MH, Ganji M, Geleijnse JM, Gillum RF, Goulart AC, Grosso G, Guessous I, Hamidi S, Hankey GJ, Harikrishnan S, Hassen HY, Hay SI, Hoang CL, Horino M, Islami F, Jackson MD, James SL, Johansson L, Jonas JB, Kasaeian A, Khader YS, Khalil IA, Khang Y-H, Kimokoti RW, Kokubo Y, Kumar GA, Lallukka T, Lopez AD, Lorkowski S, Lotufo PA, Lozano R, Malekzadeh R, März W, Meier T, Melaku YA, Mendoza W, Mensink GBM, Micha R, Miller TR, Mirarefin M, Mohan V, Mokdad AH, Mozaffarian D, Nagel G, Naghavi M, Nguyen CT, Nixon MR, Ong KL, Pereira DM, Poustchi H, Qorbani M, Rai RK, Razo-García C, Rehm CD, Rivera JA, Rodríguez-Ramírez S, Roshandel G, Roth GA, Sanabria J, Sánchez-Pimienta TG, Sartorius B, Schmidhuber J, Schutte AE, Sepanlou SG, Shin M-J, Sorensen RJD, Springmann M, Szponar L, Thorne-Lyman AL, Thrift AG, Touvier M, Tran BX, Tyrovolas S, Ukwaja KN, Ullah I, Uthman OA, Vaezghasemi M, Vasankari TJ, Vollset SE, Vos T, Vu GT, Vu LG, Weiderpass E, Werdecker A, Wijeratne T, Willett WC, Wu JH, Xu G, Yonemoto N, Yu C, Murray CJL. Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet 2019;393:1958–1972. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wang K, Jin Y, Wang M, Liu J, Bu X, Mu J, Lu J. Global cardiovascular diseases burden attributable to high sodium intake from 1990 to 2019. J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich) 2023;25:868–879. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms