The ageing endothelium, cardiovascular risk and disease in man

Ageing is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, not only because there is a process of vascular ageing per se but also because ageing increases the time of exposure to other cardiovascular risk factors. Endothelial dysfunction is now considered an early and important mechanism that predisposes to atherothrombotic damage and thus contributes to the occurrence of cardiovascular events. The normal endothelium exerts a major vascular-protecting role by secreting substances, the most important of which is nitric oxide (NO). In disease conditions (such as the presence of cardiovascular risk factors), activation of endothelial cells can lead to the production and release of contracting factors, which counteract the beneficial effects of NO, and reactive oxygen species (ROS), which cause NO breakdown. Besides the opposite effects on vascular tone, NO and endothelium-derived contracting factors also respectively inhibit and activate several other mechanisms that are involved in the pathogenesis of atherothrombosis. Moreover, endothelial dysfunction is associated with vascular subclinical damage and, importantly, an increasing body of evidence strongly suggests that it might be an independent predictor for the risk of future cardiovascular events. Like the other traditional risk factors, ageing has been demonstrated to be associated with progressive impairment of endothelial function, in both conduit arteries and resistance vessels, mainly because of an increased production of ROS. Therefore, it is conceivable that endothelial dysfunction plays a major role in predisposing to age-related increased cardiovascular risk in the elderly.