September 9, 2011Open Access
Plasma norepinephrine is an independent predictor of vascular endothelial function with aging in healthy women
Structured PICO
Is sympathetic activity, as measured by plasma norepinephrine, associated with age-related reductions in vascular endothelial function in healthy adults?
P
Population
314 healthy men (n=187) and women (n=127) varying in age
O
Outcome
Vascular endothelial function (endothelium-dependent dilation) measured by brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD)surrogate
Increased sympathetic activity, indicated by plasma norepinephrine, is independently associated with reduced vascular endothelial function with aging, particularly in healthy women.
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that reductions in vascular endothelial function (endothelium-dependent dilation, EDD) with age are related to increases in sympathetic activity. Among 314 healthy men and women, age was inversely related to brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) (r = -0.30, P 0.05). These results provide the first evidence that EDD is inversely related to sympathetic activity, as assessed by PNE, among healthy adults varying in age. In particular, our findings suggest that sympathetic nervous system activity may be a key factor involved in the modulation of vascular endothelial function with aging in women.