No abstract

Cigarette smoking is associated with dose-related and potentially reversible impairment of endothelium-dependent arterial dilation in asymptomatic young adults, consistent with endothelial dysfunction.

Aging is associated with progressive endothelial dysfunction in normal humans, and this appears to occur earlier in men than in women. In women, however, a steep decline commences at around the time of the menopause. This is consistent with a protective effect of estrogens on the arterial wall.

Loss of endothelium-dependent dilation in the systemic arteries occurs in the preclinical phase of vascular disease and is associated with interaction of the same risk factors known to predispose to atherosclerosis and its complications in later life.

Background-Ischemic preconditioning reduces local tissue injury caused by subsequent ischemia-reperfusion (IR), but may also have a salutary effect on IR injury of tissues remote from those undergoing preconditioning. We tested the hypothesis that limb ischemia induces remote preconditioning, reduces endothelial IR injury in humans, and reduces experimental myocardial infarct size. Methods and Results-Endothelial IR injury of the human forearm was induced by 20 minutes of upper limb ischemia (inflation of a blood pressure cuff to 200 mm Hg) followed by reperfusion. Remote preconditioning was induced by three 5-minute cycles of ischemia of the contralateral limb. Venous occlusion plethysmography was used to assess forearm blood flow in response to acetylcholine at baseline and 15 minutes after reperfusion. Experimental myocardial infarction was achieved by 40 minutes of balloon occlusion of the left anterior descending artery in 15-kg pigs. Remote preconditioning was induced by four 5-minute cycles of lower limb ischemia. Triphenyltetrazolium staining was used to assess the extent of myocardial infarction. In the human study, the response to acetylcholine was significantly attenuated in the control group after 15 minutes' reperfusion, but remote preconditioning prevented this reduction. Limb ischemia caused a significant reduction in the extent of myocardial infarction relative to the area at risk compared with control (26Ϯ9% versus 53Ϯ8%, PϽ0.05). Key Words: endothelium Ⅲ ischemia Ⅲ reperfusion Ⅲ ischemic preconditioning, remote I schemia-reperfusion (IR) complicates myocardial infarction and stroke and contributes to the associated tissue injury and mortality; reducing IR injury may improve the outcome of reperfusion therapy for these conditions. 1 One successful approach in the experimental setting is ischemic preconditioning (IPC), whereby prior sublethal ischemia induces a state of protection against subsequent prolonged IR. 2 Although animal studies have shown that protection occurs locally in the tissue being preconditioned, systemic effects of localized IPC have been observed. 3 This raises the possibility that regional ischemia of accessible nonvital tissues might protect remote vital organs undergoing IR, and some data support this in humans. 4 In the present study we tested the hypothesis that short periods of limb ischemia induce remote preconditioning and reduce IR injury in vivo. We used a human model of endothelial IR injury to test whether remote limb ischemia induces systemic preconditioning in humans. Furthermore, we studied an experimental model of myocardial infarction to characterize whether limb ischemia reduced myocardial IR injury. Conclusion-Remote Methods Study 1: Remote Preconditioning of Human Endothelium by Contralateral Limb Ischemia Subjects and Study DesignFourteen healthy volunteers, with a mean age of 33 (range, 26 to 52) years, gave informed signed consent and were randomized to remote preconditioning and control groups. Studies were approved by the local Research Ethics Committ...

Objective-To assess a non-invasive test for endothelial dysfunction, an important early event in the atherogenic process. Methods-Using high resolution ultrasound, the accuracy of detecting small changes in vessel diameter was assessed using phantom "arteries", and the same equipment was then used to measure flow mediated dilatation in the brachial artery of 40 healthy adults aged 22-51 years, studied on four occasions; intervals between scans were 1-2 days, 1-2 weeks, and 2-4 months. Results-Differences between pairs of phantom "arteries" with diameters 0-1-0'2 mm apart were correctly estimated in 162 of 264 cases (61%); no measurement by any of four independent observers was > 041 mm in error, and the mean error was 0*04 mm. For in vivo scans, the overall coefficient of variation for flow mediated dilatation was 1-8% (1.6% for women, 1-9% for men, P = 0.18). In 34/40 subjects (85%), all values for flow mediated dilatation were within 2-5% of the overall mean for each subject. A nested analysis of variance showed the expected between patient variability, and also significant day to day variation, but little between weeks or months. Using these data to generate power function analyses, we calculated that for individuals, an improvement in flow mediated dilatation of 4-8% is significantly greater than natural variability. In clinical trials, a mean improvement in flow mediated dilatation of at least 2% would usually be required to detect a treatment benefit, with much larger subject numbers needed for a parallel group compared to a crossover trial design. Conclusions-Vascular responses to endothelium dependent and independent stimuli in systemic arteries can be studied non-invasively in man. Subjects should be studied on at least two occasions before and after any intervention, to optimise the chance of showing a significant effect from any potentially beneficial therapy. (Br Heart J 1995;74:247-253).

Background-We have demonstrated that myocardial acceleration during isovolumic contraction (IVA) is a sensitive index of left ventricular contractile function. In this study, we assessed the utility of IVA to measure right ventricular (RV) contractile function. Methods and Results-We examined 8 pigs by using tissue Doppler imaging of the RV free wall and simultaneous measurements of intraventricular pressure, volume, maximal elastance (e max ), preload recruitable stroke work, and dP/dt max by conductance catheterization. Animals were paced in the right atrium at a rate of 130 beats per minute (bpm).IVA was compared with elastance during contractility modulation by esmolol and dobutamine and during preload reduction and afterload increase by transient balloon occlusion of the inferior vena cava and pulmonary artery, respectively. Data were also obtained during incremental atrial pacing from 110 to 210 bpm. Esmolol led to a decrease in IVA and dP/dt max . During dobutamine infusion, IVA, dP/dt max , preload recruitable stroke work, and e max all increased significantly. During preload reduction and afterload increase, IVA remained constant up to a reduction of RV volume by 54% and an RV systolic pressure increase of 58%. Pacing up to a rate of 190 bpm led to a stepwise increase in IVA and dP/dt max , with a subsequent fall at a pacing rate of 210 bpm. Conclusions-IVA is a measurement of RV contractile function that is unaffected by preload and afterload changes in a physiological range and is able to measure the force-frequency relation. This novel index may be ideally suited to the assessment of acute changes of RV function in clinical studies.

Familial hypercholesterolemia is associated with premature atherosclerosis. Since endothelial dysfunction is an early event in atherogenesis, we used a noninvasive method to assess endothelial function in the systemic arteries of 30 children aged 7-17 yr (median 11 ) with familial hypercholesterolemia (2 homozygotes, 28 heterozygotes, total cholesterol 240-696 mg/ dl) and 30 healthy age-and sex-matched controls. Using high resolution ultrasound, the diameter of the superficial femoral artery was measured at rest, in response to reactive hyperemia (with increased flow causing endothelium-dependent dilation), and after sublingual glyceryltrinitrate (causing endothelium-independent vasodilation).Flow-mediated dilation was present in the controls (7.5±0.7%) but was impaired or absent in the hypercholesterolemic children (1.2±0.4%, P < 0.0001). Total cholesterol was inversely correlated with flow-mediated dilation (r = -0.61, P < 0.0001). In the hypercholesterolemic children, flow-mediated dilation was inversely related to the lipoprotein(a) level (r = -0.61, P = 0.027) but not to other lipid fractions. Glyceryltrinitrate-induced dilation was present in all subjects but was lower in the hypercholesterolemia group (10.0±0.6% vs 12.4±0.8%, P = 0.023).Thus, impaired endothelium-dependent dilation is present in children with familial hypercholesterolemia as young as 7 yr of age and the degree of impairment is related to the lipoprotein(a) level. (J. Clin. Invest. 1994. 93:50-55.)