Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HYPERTENSION
Volume 23, Issue 5, Pages 541-546Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1038/ajh.2010.10
Keywords
blood pressure; endothelium; hypertension; large and small arteries; microcirculation; nitric oxide; vasodilation
Categories
Funding
- SDRC
- Programme Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique [2006]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
BACKGROUND The structure and function of blood vessels varies along the vascular tree. Endothelial dysfunction is a hallmark of increased cardiovascular (CV) risk that can be assessed by several methods, some of which are invasive and of restricted application. The aim of this study was to determine whether the laser Doppler response of skin microcirculation to acetylcholine, reflects that of conduit artery assessed by brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD). METHODS Noninvasive measurement of endothelium-dependent vasodilation in the skin microcirculation by laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) in response to a local transdermal iontophoretic application of acetylcholine (Ach-SkBF) is an operator-independent method. Ach-SkBF and FMD were measured in the nondominant upper limb of 55 unselected consecutive patients admitted in our department for evaluation of CV risk factors. RESULTS Ach-SkBF was (mean +/- s.d. (min-max)) 490 +/- 414%, (10-1667%) and FMD was 3.77 +/- 3.01% (0.91-10.91). A strong linear relationship was found between Ach-SkBF and FMD:Ach-SkBF = 122.7 FMD + 25.8 (r = 0.92, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Endothelial dilatory response to increased blood flow and to acetylcholine are similar in large arteries and in the skin microvasculature. Thus, measurement of blood flow changes in the skin microcirculation using LDF coupled with acetylcholine iontophoresis represents a technically challenging and reliable noninvasive method for the assessment of endothelial function within a large range of normal and altered endothelium responses.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available