Five-day oral salsalate treatment did not significantly alter brachial artery flow-mediated dilation compared to placebo in healthy non-Hispanic Black women (5.84% vs 4.62%, p=0.23).
RCT (n=10)
single-blind
randomized
Does oral salsalate improve macrovascular endothelial function in healthy non-Hispanic Black women?
Short-term inhibition of systemic inflammation with oral salsalate does not improve macrovascular endothelial function in healthy non-Hispanic Black women, suggesting chronic low-grade inflammation is not the primary modulator of this function in this demographic.
Absolute Event Rate: 5.84% vs 4.62%
p-value: p=0.23
PURPOSE: The prevalence of cardiovascular disease is disproportionately higher in non-Hispanic Black (NHB) adults compared to their White counterparts. Prior mechanistic work in NHB men shows that superoxide generation from xanthine and NADPH oxidases contributes to impaired nitric oxide (NO)-mediated endothelial function. However, specific pharmacological inhibition of superoxide production does not alter endothelial function in NHB women, suggesting different mechanisms contribute to impaired endothelial function in this group. A greater chronic low-grade inflammation in NHB women, regulated in part by nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB), may contribute to decreased NO-dependent vasodilation in the macrovasculature. The purpose of this study was to determine if inhibition of NF-kB activation (oral salsalate) improved macrovascular endothelial function in healthy NHB women. METHODS: In a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled design, oral salsalate (1500mg, b.i.d., 5 days) was used to assess the impact of systemic inflammation on macrovascular endothelial function. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was measured following placebo and salsalate interventions in ten healthy NHB women Mean (SD): Age: 28 (7) yrs. In a subset of nine women 29 (7) yrs, FMD+Handgrip (HG: 20% maximum voluntary isometric contraction) was also measured. FMD and FMD+HG are expressed as the percent change in brachial artery diameter in response to post-occlusive reactive hyperemia relative to baseline (%FMD and %FMD+HG; GE Logiq E). Edge detection software (Cardiovascular Suite 4) was utilized for continuous measurement of blood velocity and vessel diameter. The effect of placebo and salsalate treatments were compared using paired t-tests. RESULTS: Five-day salsalate treatment did not alter %FMD Placebo: 4.62 (3.29)% vs Salsalate: 5.84 (2.26)%, p=0.23 or %FMD+HG Placebo: 10.88 (3.83)% vs Salsalate: 9.23 (2.76)%, p=0.35. CONCLUSION: In otherwise healthy NHB women, inhibition of systemic inflammation with oral salsalate did not impact macrovascular endothelial function assessed in the brachial artery. This suggests that chronic low-grade inflammation does not modulate macrovascular endothelial function in NHB women. Supported by Diversity Supplement R01 HL161000-02S2 (VGC), NIH F31 HL170616-01 (ACW), NIH Grant R01 HL161000 (LMA). This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2026 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.
Ross et al. (Fri,) conducted a rct in healthy non-Hispanic Black women (n=10). oral salsalate vs. placebo was evaluated on Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (%FMD) (p=0.23). Five-day oral salsalate treatment did not significantly alter brachial artery flow-mediated dilation compared to placebo in healthy non-Hispanic Black women (5.84% vs 4.62%, p=0.23).
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: