title: Effects of diabetes and hypertension on structure and distensibilty of human small coronary arteries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies have demonstrated that hypertension and diabetes induce significant structural remodelling of resistance arteries from various vascular beds. The hypothesis of this study is that structural alterations of small coronary arteries may occur during hypertension and diabetes. This study is the first to compare human coronary small resistance artery structure from normotensive and hypertensive patients, with and without diabetes undergoing coronary arterial bypass graft surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Small arteries were dissected from the atrial appendage removed from nondiabetic normotensive patients, nondiabetic hypertension and diabetic normotensive patients and hypertensive diabetic patients. Arteries were mounted in a pressure myograph and lumen diameter and wall thickness were measured across the pressure range of 3-100 mmHg to assess vessel structure and distensibility.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences in the lumen diameter, wall thickness, wall-to-lumen ratio and cross-sectional area of arteries in all groups. Arteries from nondiabetic patients with hypertension demonstrated decreased distensibility compared with nondiabetic normotensive patients. There is no difference in distensibility between vessels from diabetic hypertensive patients and either diabetic or nondiabetic normotensive patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Neither diabetes nor hypertension appears to have influenced arterial structure which may indicate that successful treatment of hypertension is associated with normal vascular structure in coronary small arteries.
authors: Cardiovascular Research Group, Department of Biomedicine, University of Manchester, Core Technology Facility bManchester Heart Centre, Manchester, UK. fiona.lynch@man.ac.uk
authors: Fiona M
authors: FM
authors: Lynch
authors: Ashley S
authors: AS
authors: Izzard
authors: Clare
authors: C
authors: Austin
authors: Brian
authors: B
authors: Prendergast
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Keenan
authors: Rayaz A
authors: RA
authors: Malik
authors: Anthony M
authors: AM
authors: Heagerty
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged