title: Impaired vasoreactivity in mildly disabled CADASIL patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  CADASIL (cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy) is a rare genetic disease caused by NOTCH3 gene mutations. A dysfunction in vasoreactivity has been proposed as an early event in the pathogenesis of the disease. The aim of this study was to verify whether endothelium dependent and/or independent function is altered in CADASIL patients with respect to controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Vasoreactivity was studied by a non-invasive pletismographic method in 49 mildly disabled CADASIL patients (30-65 years, 58% male, Rankin scale ≤2) and 25 controls. Endothelium dependent vasodilatation was assessed by reactive hyperaemia (flow mediated dilation-peripheral arterial tone (FMD-PAT)) and endothelium independent vasoreactivity by glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) administration (GTN-PAT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients and controls showed comparable age, gender and cardiovascular risk factor distribution. GTN-PAT values were significantly lower in CADASIL patients (1.54 (1.01 to 2.25)) than in controls (1.89 (1.61 to 2.59); p=0.041). FMD-PAT scores did not differ between patients and controls (1.88 (1.57 to 2.43) vs 2.08 (1.81 to 2.58); p=0.126) but 17 CADASIL patients (35%) had FMD-PAT scores below the fifth percentile of controls. FMD-PAT and GTN-PAT values correlated both in controls (ρ=0.648, p<0.001) and CADASIL patients (ρ=0.563, p<0.001). By multivariable logistic regression for clinical and laboratory variables, only GTN-PAT (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.97; p=0.044) was independently associated with FMD-PAT below the fifth percentile in CADASIL patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The impaired vasoreactivity observed in CADASIL patients highlights the fact that both endothelial and smooth muscle functional alterations may already be present in mildly disabled subjects. The improvement in vascular function could be a new target for pharmacological trials in CADASIL patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute, Cardiovascular Department, Niguarda Ca’Granda Hospital, Milan, Italy. jonica.campolo@ospedaleniguarda.it
authors.forename: Jonica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Campolo
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Maria
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frontali
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Taroni
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Inzitari
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Federico
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Puca
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mariotti
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tomasello
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pantoni
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pescini
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Dotti
authors.forename: Maria Laura
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Stromillo
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Stefano
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tavani
authors.forename: Oberdan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Parodi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000503:physiopathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D046589:CADASIL / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008365:Manometry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059906:Neuroimaging; D010991:Plethysmography