title: Flow-mediated vasodilation over five years in the general elderly population and its relation to cardiovascular risk factors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) has previously been shown to be related to cardiovascular risk factors in cross-sectional studies. The present study aims to investigate how FMD changes over time, and determine whether this change is paralleled by changes in cardiovascular risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Of the participants in the Prospective Investigation of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS) study, 750 individuals had measurements made of FMD in the brachial artery both at the ages of 70 and 75 years. In addition, the change over the 5 years in carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) was monitored, as well as traditional cardiovascular risk factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While no significant change in FMD occurred during the 5-year period (+0.1%, p = 0.53), large changes could be seen at the individual level. The Framingham risk score (excluding the age-variable) increased during the follow-up period (+0.54, p < 0.001). This change was inversely related to the individual change in FMD (beta -0.15, 95% CI -0.29 to -0.0059, p = 0.041). Of the eight individual CV risk factors tested, the change in FMD was only related to the change in LDL-cholesterol (inversely, p = 0.0028). The change in FMD was not related to the change in IMT seen over the 5-year period (p = 0.41).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While no change was seen in the mean FMD over a five-year period in elderly subjects attending both examinations despite ageing and a change in several risk factors, the individual change was mainly related to the change in LDL-cholesterol, further emphasizing the important role of lipids to determine vasoreactivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, SE-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: lars.lind@medsci.uu.se.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lind
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001916:Brachial Artery / Q000473:pathology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden; D014664:Vasodilation
chemical_list: D008078:Cholesterol, LDL
keywords: Endothelium; Lipids; Risk factors; Vasodilation; Vasoreactivity