Ultrasound Assessment of Flow-Mediated Dilation of the Brachial and Superficial Femoral Arteries in Rats

Arterial vasodilation to increases in wall shear rate is indicative of vascular endothelial function. In humans, the non-invasive measurement of endothelial function can be achieved by employing the flow-mediated dilation technique, typically performed in the brachial or superficial femoral artery. Briefly, a blood pressure cuff placed distal to an ultrasound probe is inflated to a suprasystolic pressure, which results in limb ischemia. After 5 min of occlusion the cuff is deflated, resulting in reactive hyperemia and increases in wall shear rate that signal vasodilatory molecules to be released from the endothelium eliciting vasodilation. Despite the thousands of studies performing flow-mediated dilation in humans, surprisingly, no studies have performed this technique non-invasively in living rats. Considering the recent shift in focus to translational research, the establishment of guidelines for non-invasive measurement of flow-mediated dilation in rats and other rodents would be extremely valuable. In the following article, a protocol is presented for the non-invasive measurement of flow-mediated dilation in brachial and superficial femoral arteries of rats, as those sites are most commonly measured in humans.