Table 3.
Endothelial dysfunction in the human forearm vascular bed and cardiovascular risk factors.
| Author | Risk factor (number of subjects) | Drugs used | Main findings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creager et al. [46] | Hypercholesterolaemia (13) | MCh, SNP | Blunted dilator response to MCh, but not SNP in the hypercholesterolaemic group. |
| Chowienczyk et al. [98] | Hypercholesterolaemia (12) | ACh, MCh, SNP | Blunted response to ACh in the hypercholesterolaemic, but preserved MCh and SNP vasodilatation. |
| Heitzer et al. [107] | Smoking (15), hypercholesterolaemia (15), hypercholesterolaemia + smoking (15) | ACh, SNP | Reduced response to ACh in all groups compared with controls, but significantly more impairment in the hypercholesterolaemic smokers. No difference in SNP responses. |
| Chowienczyk et al. [136] | Hypertriglyceridaemia (17) | ACh, SNP | Responses to both drugs did not differ between the groups. |
| Panza et al. [109] | Essential hypertension (18) | ACh, SNP | Reduced response to ACh, but not SNP in the hypertensives |
| Linder et al. [110] | Essential hypertension (14) | ACh, SNP | Reduced response to ACh, but not SNP in the hypertensives |
| Cockcroft et al. [47] | Essential hypertension (58) | Carbachol, ACh, SNP | Preserved ACh and carbachol responses in the hypertensives. |
| Taddei et al. [108] | Essential hypertension and age (57) | ACh, SNP | Reduced ACh response in hypertensive group compared with controls, but preserved effect of SNP. Significant negative correlation between ACh-induced vasodilatation and age in both groups. |
| Makimattila et al. [106] | Type II diabetes (30) | ACh, SNP, LNMMA | Reduced vasodilation to ACh but not SNP in the diabetic group. No difference in the effect of ACh + LNMMA on flows between groups. |
| Calver et al. [122] | Type I diabetes (10) | ACh, SNP, NA | Similar response to ACh and verapamil between the groups, verapamil, LNMMA but a reduced response to SNP in the diabetics. Reduced effect of LNMMA on basal flow compared with NA in the diabetics. |
| Elliot et al. [123] | Type I diabetes (28) | Carbachol, SNP, | Vasodilator responses to carbachol and SNP not significantly LNMMA different between the groups, but reduced effect of LNMMA on basal flow in the microalbuminuric diabetics. |
| Newby et al. [100] | Cigarette smokers (12) | Substance P | Reduced vasodilatation to substance P, and reduced release of tPA antigen, in the smokers compared with controls. |
ACh – acetylcholine, MCh – methacholine, SNP – sodium nitroprusside, GTN – glyceryl trinitrate, NA – noradrenaline, LNMMA – NG-monomethyl-l-arginine.