Clinical Research Directory

Inclusion Criteria (Healthy Controls): * non-hypertensive (less than 130/80 mmHg) * non-obese with a Body Mass Index (BMI) less than 30 kilogram per meter squared (kg/m2) * Normal blood glucose less than 100 grams per deciliter (g/dl) * Normal lipids; LDL cholesterol less than130 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl), triglycerides less than 150 mg/dl. * Women must have a predictable menstrual cycle for MRI scheduling. Females will be studied on cycle days 1-7 (as presented in all preliminary data) to minimize sex hormone differences and their potential confounding effects on vascular outcomes. Oral contraceptives will be allowed in women to increase translatability in findings. Inclusion Criteria (Participants with Metabolic Syndrome): * Meet age criteria plus three or more of the five criteria for MetSyn as defined by ATP, the most common three factors meeting MetSyn criteria will be obesity, prehypertension / hypertension, and low HDL cholesterol. Exclusion Criteria: * Subjects with a diagnostic history of: * peripheral vascular, hepatic, renal, or hematologic disease * stroke * type 1 or 2 diabetes * sleep apnea * hypertension (allowed in MetSyn) * regular tobacco users * taking cardiovascular medications (e.g., statins, angiotensin II receptor blockers) or metabolic medications (metformin, insulin, semaglutide) or NSAID sensitivity will be excluded. * In women: pregnancy or polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS, to avoid altered testosterone in women). * A history of a neurocognitive disorder or an intellectual disability will be excluded from the study. A neurocognitive screener (MoCA) will be completed; a score below the normal range (25 or below) is exclusionary. Participants will complete the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) to screen for symptoms of depression and anxiety to increase the translatability of data; normal to mildly elevated range (0-9) are included but excluded at higher scores (10-27).