Systolic and diastolic hypertension impair endothelial vasodilatory function in different types of vessels in the elderly: the Prospective Investigation of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS) study.
BACKGROUND
Endothelium-dependent vasodilation (EDV) is known to be impaired in middle-aged hypertensive individuals, but less is known regarding hypertension in the elderly.


OBJECTIVE
In the Prospective Study of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS) study, different techniques to evaluate EDV in resistance and conduit arteries were applied in elderly subjects and were related to the type of hypertension.


METHODS
In this population-based study, 1016 subjects aged 70 years were evaluated by the invasive forearm technique with acetylcholine (EDV), brachial artery ultrasound to assess flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and pulse wave analysis with a beta-2 receptor agonist challenge, terbutaline. Those without antihypertensive treatment were divided into three groups: normotensive individuals (n = 256), and those with isolated systolic hypertension (n = 309) or combined systolic/diastolic hypertension (n = 79).


RESULTS
Compared with normotensive individuals, EDV was reduced in those with combined systolic/diastolic hypertension only (P = 0.0019), whereas FMD was mainly reduced in those with isolated systolic hypertension (P = 0.013). Furthermore, in regression analysis, EDV was related to diastolic blood pressure only (r = -0.10, P = 0.017), whereas FMD was mainly related to systolic blood pressure (r = -0.13, P = 0.0023). The pulse wave-based method to analyse vasoreactivity was not consistently affected by hypertension.


CONCLUSIONS
In elderly subjects, systolic hypertension mainly impairs conduit artery endothelial vasodilatory function, whereas diastolic hypertension mainly induces dysfunction in resistance arteries.
Lind
Lars
L
Department of Medicine, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala and AstraZeneca R&D, Mölndal, Sweden. lars.lind@medsci.uu.se
D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D001916:Brachial Artery; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008365:Manometry / Q000379:methods; D010991:Plethysmography / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011673:Pulsatile Flow / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D017534:Radial Artery; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000502:physiology*