Correlation analysis between different parameters of conduit artery and microvascular vasodilation

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Physiology
• Endothelial Function Research
• Vascular Biology

Background:

• Endothelial dysfunction is a marker for cardiovascular risk.
• Assessing endothelial function in microvessels and conduit arteries is possible.
• The relationship between endothelial function in these two vascular beds is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the correlation between endothelial function in conduit arteries and microvessels.
• To compare different methods of measuring endothelial vasodilation in vivo.
• To determine if microvascular endothelial function predicts conduit artery endothelial function.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-five healthy young non-smoking males were enrolled.
• Measured radial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) for conduit artery function.
• Assessed microvascular function using laser Doppler for reactive hyperemia and acetylcholine iontophoresis.

Main Results:

• Conduit artery FMD showed a negative correlation with resting radial artery diameter.
• Microvascular responses to acetylcholine and reactive hyperemia were correlated.
• No correlation was found between conduit artery FMD and microvascular vasomotion measures.

Conclusions:

• Microvascular endothelial function, assessed by reactive hyperemia and acetylcholine response, is correlated.
• Endothelium-dependent vasomotion in conduit arteries (FMD) is not correlated with microvascular endothelial function.
• Current methods show distinct endothelial function characteristics between human microcirculation and conduit arteries.