Key result
Alzheimer's disease patients show no difference in forearm blood flow or vasodilator responses versus controls.
Why the study?
Does intra-arterial infusion of acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside reveal impaired endothelial function in patients with Alzheimer's disease compared to controls?
Case-Control
Does intra-arterial infusion of acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside reveal impaired endothelial function in patients with Alzheimer's disease compared to controls?
This study found no evidence of systemic endothelial dysfunction in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
No evidence of systemic endothelial dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease; leaves open cerebral vascular contributions to pathogenesis.
In view of accumulating evidence of vascular pathology in Alzheimer's disease (AD), we tested the hypothesis that AD patients have impaired endothelial function. This was assessed using the technique of strain-gauge venous occlusion plethysmography, which measures forearm blood flow (FBF). Intra-arterial (brachial) infusion of acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) was used to assess local endothelial dependent and independent responses, respectively. There was no difference in the basal FBF of patients and controls. ACh and SNP caused dose-related increases in FBF from baseline, but no difference was recorded between the AD and control group. This study provides no evidence of endothelial dysfunction in the systemic circulation of patients with AD.
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McGleenon et al. (2000) conducted a case-control in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease vs. Controls was evaluated on Forearm blood flow (FBF) responses to acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside. Alzheimer's disease patients showed no difference in basal forearm blood flow or responses to acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside compared to controls.
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