Arteriosclerosis—Observational Studies
cfPWV
1. Observational Cross-Sectional Studies
Author (year)	Population Description	Exclusion Criteria
Polónia, J. (2006)	essential hypertensives, recent stroke or healthy university students	urine sample not meeting the required quality criteria
García-Ortiz, L. (2012)	primary care patients aged 30–80	cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular disease
Kotliar, C. (2014)	essential hypertensives, aged 30 to 70	abnormal renal function; volume or electrolyte alterations; diabetes mellitus; history of renal disease, ischemic heart disease, stroke; loss of data; counter indication for the drug washout; use of corticoids or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs during the study
Polonia, J. (2016)	hypertensive adults	secondary hypertension, previous cardiovascular events history; estimated glomerular filtration rate >50 mL/min/1.73
Strauss, M. (2018)	normotensive adults	previously diagnosed chronic illness (self-reported); use of anti-hypertensive drugs or other chronic diseases; diabetes mellitus; HIV infected; microalbuminuria>30 mg/mL; pregnancy or lactation
Triantafyllou, A. (2018)	newly diagnosed & never-treated hypertensives—healthy individuals admitted for regular check-up	previously treated with anti-hypertensive drugs; use of any kind of drugs; other known health problems; secondary causes of hypertension; other comorbidities (e.g., diabetes mellitus, CVD)
2. Observational Studies with Follow up (>1 Time Points)
Nerbass, F.B. (2015)	adults in CKD stage 3	solid organ transplant or terminally illness
Aortic PWV Other Than cfPWV
Siriopol, D. (2018)	hypertensive & normotensive Romanian adults	use of diuretic treatment; CKD; missing values for the variables of interest
baPWV
1. Observational Cross-Sectional Studies
Sonoda, H. (2012)	healthy subjects	heart failure; valvular heart disease; atrial fibrillation; peripheral artery disease
Lee, S.K. (2015)	non-hypertensive subjects, with no use of anti-hypertensive drugs	age >70 years; preexisting CVD including significant valvular heart diseases and arrhythmia; chronic renal disease or a serum creatinine level >1.5 mg/dL; unavailable urinary Na data, inadequate data of tissue Doppler echocardiography, carotid ultrasound, or baPWV; ejection fraction of <55% after echocardiography
Sun, N. (2015)	newly diagnosed hypertensives, untreated hypertensives or patients with a 1 to 5 year history of hypertensives who had stopped taking anti-hypertensive drugs for 1 month	use of anti-hypertensive drugs; secondary hypertension; hypertensive emergency; hypertensive urgency; acute coronary syndrome; severe arrhythmias; DM; stroke; CKD
Han, W. (2017)	hypertensive adults	any secondary cause of hypertension; hypertension emergencies; serious arrhythmia; peripheral arterial disease; heart failure; impaired renal function with plasma creatinine ≥150 μmol/L; rheumatic & autoimmune diseases; malignancies
2. Observational Studies with Follow up (>1 Time Points)
Jung, S. (2019)	adults aged >40	history of heart disease, stroke, and/or cancer; anti-hypertensive drugs; diabetes mellitus; dyslipidemia; implausible dietary intake reported (< 500 or > 4000 kcal/day); missing general characteristic data from the baseline visit
Common Carotid Arterial Elasticity (Young’s Elastic Modulus, Stiffness Index, Arterial Compliance)
Ferreira-Sae, M.C. (2011)	hypertensive adults	age <18 years; neoplastic disease; secondary hypertension
Arteriosclerosis—Interventional studies
cfPWV
Seals, D.R. (2001)	postmenopausal women, ≥50 years, high normal SBP or Stage 1 hypertension	anti-hypertensive drugs; other chronic disease; low-Na diet or regular exercise during the preceding 2 years; smoking
Dickinson, K.M. (2009)	overweight/obese, mild hypertensive adults	metabolic disease; CVD; SBP >160 mm Hg at screening; significant weight loss in the preceding 6 months (>2 kg); BMI < 27 or > 40; use of anti-hypertensive drugs
He, F.J. (2009)	hypertensive adults	anti-hypertensive drugs; secondary cause of hypertension; impaired renal function; previous stroke; ischemic heart disease; heart failure; diabetes mellitus; malignancy; liver disease; pregnancy or lactation or on oral contraceptive pills
Pimenta, E. (2009)	resistant hypertensive adults on stable anti-hypertensive drugs	history of atherosclerotic disease (in the previous 6 months); congestive heart failure; diabetes mellitus on insulin treatment; office blood pressure > 160/100 mm Hg
Todd, A.S. (2010)	Pre-hypertensive or hypertensive, non-obese adults or in anti-hypertensive drugs	age >65; smoking; history of CVD or diabetes mellitus or renal disease
Todd, A.S. (2012)	normotensives, non-obese adults	age >65; antihypertensive medication; smoking; history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus or renal disease
McMahon, E.J. (2013)	hypertensive adult patients with stage 3 or 4 CKD (GFR 15–59 mL/min per 1.73 m2), non-dialyzed, non-transplanted	salt-wasting CKD, pregnant or breastfeeding, current prescription of medications providing 0.20 mmol sodium per day, life expectancy,6 months, current involvement in another intervention study, or insufficient mental or physical capacity to adhere to the study protocol.
Dickinson, K.M. (2014)	overweight or obese subjects	diabetes mellitus; dyslipidemia; inflammatory bowel disease; pulmonary disease or vasculitis
Gijsbers, L. (2015)	untreated prehypertensives, aged 40–80	smoking; diabetes mellitus, CVD; gastrointestinal, liver or renal diseases; BMI > 40; use of drugs known to affect the cardiovascular system; use of nutritional supplements, an energy-restricted or medically prescribed diet; unstable body weight in past 2 months; alcohol use over 21 (women) or 28 (men) consumptions/week; pregnancy or lactation
Suckling, F.J. (2016)	untreated hypertensive adults with diet-controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus or impaired glucose tolerance	any secondary causes of hypertension, impaired renal function (plasma creatinine >150 μmol), uncontrolled heart failure, ischemic heart disease, previous stroke, active malignancy or liver disease, pregnancy, breast feeding, or oral contraceptive drugs
van der Graaf, A.M. (2016)	women with history of preeclampsia or history of healthy former pregnancy	renal disease; diabetes mellitus or a history of gestational diabetes; obesity; use of anti-hypertensive drugs; pregnancy; lactation; postmenopausal status; use of oral contraceptives
Muth, B.J. (2017)	healthy, normotensive adults	history of hypertension; CVD; malignancy; diabetes mellitus; renal impairment; obesity; smoking
Aortic PWV (Other than cfPWV)
Avolio, A.P. (1986)	healthy normotensive adults & children	N/AV
hfPWV
Rhee, M.Y. (2016)	normotensive & hypertensive adults	stage 2 and 3 hypertension; secondary hypertension; angina pectoris; myocardial infarction; congestive cardiac failure; stroke; diabetes mellitus; CKD
baPWV
Wang, Y. (2015)	mild hypertensive adults	stage 2 hypertension; history of clinical CVD; CKD; diabetes mellitus; use of anti-hypertensive drugs; high alcohol intake
Arterial Elasticity (Arterial Compliance)
Creager, M.A. (1991)	normotensive men	hematologic, renal, or hepatic dysfunction
Gates, P.E. (2004)	hypertensive adults (stage 1), older than 50	use of anti-hypertensive drugs; abnormal blood chemistry; positive ECG-monitored exercise test; ankle–brachial index > 0.9; presence of plaque on ultrasound interrogation of the carotid and femoral arteries; smoking for previous 2 years; BMI < 35; consumption of a low-Na diet; not in postmenopausal if female (amenorrheic for at least 2 years)
Arterial Remodeling—Observational Studies
cIMT
1. Observational Cross-Sectional Studies
Ferreira-Sae, M.C. (2011)	hypertensive adults	age <18 years; neoplastic disease; secondary hypertension
Njoroge, J.N. (2011)	overweight or obese, physically inactive adults	diabetes mellitus; anti-hypertensive drugs or average baseline SBP of ≥140 or DBP ≥ 90 mmHg; cholesterol lowering or anti-psychotic or vasoactive drugs; use of vasoactive devices; pregnancy or lactation
García-Ortiz, L. (2012)	primary care patients aged 30–80	cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular disease
Lee, S.K. (2015)	non-hypertensive individuals, with no use of anti-hypertensive drugs	age >70 years; preexisting CVD including significant valvular heart diseases and arrhythmia; chronic renal disease or a serum creatinine level > 1.5 mg/dL; unavailable urinary Na data, inadequate data of tissue Doppler echocardiography, carotid ultrasound, or baPWV; ejection fraction of <55% after echocardiography
Ustundag, S. (2015)	ambulatory adult patients, in stage 2–4 CKD	BMI < 35 kg/m2; diabetes mellitus; salt-losing nephropathy or history of malignancy or cardio-cerebrovascular disease or any acute disease
Dai, X.W. (2016)	Asian adults, via subject referral and community advertisement	hospital-confirmed diabetes mellitus; CVD; renal failure; CKD; cancer
Mazza, E. (2018)	adults aged ≥65, not suffering from any debilitating diseases	history of CVD or thyroid dysfunction or excessive alcohol consumption; use of dietary supplements & psychotropic drugs
2. Observational studies with follow up (>1 time points)
Jung, S. (2019)	adults aged >40	history of heart disease, stroke, and/or cancer; anti-hypertensive drugs; diabetes mellitus; dyslipidemia; implausible dietary intake reported (< 500 or > 4000 kcal/day); missing general characteristic data from the baseline visit
Arterial Remodeling—Interventional Studies
Right Branchial Artery & Common Carotid Artery Diameter
Benetos, A. (1992)	actively working, mild to moderate hypertensive adults	cardiac, neurologic or renal involvement or arteriosclerosis obliterans of the lower limbs
Atheromatosis—Observational Studies
Carotid Plaques
Dai, X.W. (2016)	Asian adults, via subject referral and community advertisement	hospital-confirmed diabetes mellitus; CVD; renal failure; CKD; cancer
Mazza, E. (2018)	adults aged ≥65, not suffering from any debilitating diseases	history of CVD or thyroid dysfunction or excessive alcohol consumption; use of dietary supplements & psychotropic drugs
Abbreviations: CKD: chronic kidney disease; CVD: cardiovascular disease; BMI: body mass index; Na: Sodium; N/AV: not available.