Fifty-eight normal subjects and 51 subjects with borderline hypertension underwent microvascular and hemodynamic studies while on an ad libitum diet and during periods of sodium depletion (10 mEq/day) and repletion (200 mEq/day). Hemodynamic measurements included arterial blood pressure, cardiac index, total peripheral resistance, forearm blood flow, vascular resistance, venous compliance, and capillary filtration fraction. Studies of the microcirculation consisted of macrophotography of the bulbar conjunctiva with measurement of anteriolar, venular, and capillary density and diameter. During sodium repletion, cardiac index increased significantly in the normal subjects (2.35 +/- 0.7 vs 2.44 +/- 0.7 L/min/m2; p less than 0.01) and in the borderline hypertensive subjects (2.50 +/- 0.7 vs 2.70 +/- 0.8 L/min/m2; p less than 0.01). However, mean blood pressure rose by more than 5% in only 33 subjects, 13 with normal and 20 with borderline hypertension. When these sodium-sensitive subjects were compared with those whose blood pressure did not rise, the former were found to have significantly higher forearm vascular resistance (32.2 +/- 21 vs 17.9 +/- 12 mm Hg/ml/min/100 g; p less than 0.01), lower forearm blood flow (4.42 +/- 2.7 vs 7.47 +/- 5.0 ml/min/100 g) and lower conjunctival capillary density (3.72 +/- 1.7 vs 5.18 +/- 2.1 [SD] mm/mm2; p less than 0.05). These results indicate that sodium sensitivity in humans is accompanied by elevation of forearm vascular resistance and attenuation of the microcirculation.