Key result
In healthy middle-aged men, popliteal artery flow-mediated vasodilation was significantly lower than brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilation (6.4% vs 11.4%, p<0.001), a decline not observed in women.
Why the study?
The study was conducted to examine the influences of age and gender on flow-mediated endothelial function and the involvement of the competitive inhibition of L-arginine in endothelial function.
Cross-Sectional (n=70)
Single-blind
No
Absolute Event Rate: 6.4% vs 11.4%
p-value: p=<0.001
Healthy middle-aged men, but not women, exhibit a significant decline in lower extremity endothelial function that correlates with increased ADMA levels.
Lower popliteal FMD in middle-aged men associates with ADMA; leaves open sex-specific lower-limb endothelial vulnerability for prospective validation.
PURPOSE: We examined the influences of age and gender on flow-mediated endothelial function and the involvement of the competitive inhibition of L-arginine in endothelial function. METHODS: We measured brachial and popliteal flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) responses, nitrate/nitrite (NOx) concentrations, and plasma levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) in four healthy, nonsmoking groups: young men (mean 26 ± 2 years, n = 17), middle-aged men (mean 50 ± 3 years, n = 19), young women (mean 27 ± 2 years, n = 16), and middle-aged women (mean 51 ± 2 years, n = 18). RESULTS: In young men, we found no significant differences between brachial and popliteal artery FMDs (10.6 ± 1.5 vs 8.7 ± 1.6%, p = 0.06). However, the popliteal artery FMD was significantly lower than the brachial artery FMD in middle-aged men (11.4 ± 1.5 vs 6.4 ± 1.0%, p < 0.001). In women, we found no significant differences between brachial and popliteal artery FMDs in young and middle-aged individuals (young, p = 0.17; middle-aged, p = 0.08). Popliteal artery FMD correlated with plasma NOx and ADMA levels as well as with the NOx/ADMA ratio in men but not in women (r = 0.485, - 0.544, and 0.672, respectively). CONCLUSION: We concluded that a decrease in flow-mediated endothelial function in arteries of the lower extremities was evident in healthy middle-aged men, but not in middle-aged women. The competitive inhibition of L-arginine may contribute to this decrease in men.
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Nakamura et al. (2019) conducted a cross-sectional in Healthy (n=70). Aging (Middle-age) vs. Young age was evaluated on Popliteal artery flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) compared to brachial artery FMD in middle-aged men (p=<0.001). In healthy middle-aged men, popliteal artery flow-mediated vasodilation was significantly lower than brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilation (6.4% vs 11.4%, p<0.001), a decline not observed in women.
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