Exercise-induced vasodilation in healthy males: A marker of reduced endothelial function

Figures & data

Table I. Patient characteristics and blood indices including inflammatory and endothelial markers (median and range).

Patient characteristic
Patients (n)	30
Age (median and range)	47 (21–72)
Previous/current smoker (n, %)	3/4 (10/13.3)
Snuff (n, %)	2 (6.7)
Blood indices
Hemoglobin (g/100 mL)	14.6 (13.2–16.8)
Trombocytes (10^9/L)	235 (149–323)
Leukocytes (10^9/L)	5.7 (3.7–8.4)
HbA1c (%)	5.4 (4.8–6.7)
Glucose (mmol/L)	5.2 (2.6–8.7)
Cholesterol (mmol/L)	4.9 (3.1–7.0)
Triglycerides (mmol/L)	1.0 (0.3–3.4)
HDL cholesterol (mmol/L)	1.5 (0.8–1.9)
LDL cholesterol (mmol/L)	3.3 (1.1–5.3)
Inflammatory and endothelial markers
hs-CRP (mg/L)	0.69 (0.20–10.0)
P-selectin (ng/mL)	21000 (8116–42700)
OPG (pg/mL)	1.93 (0.80–3.14)
IL-8 (pg/mL)	3 (1–113)
IL-10 (pg/mL)	0.35 (0.03–3.05)
TNFRI (pg/mL)	903 (709–1157)
vWF (10^− 3%)	3.32 (1.09–94.4)
ADMA (μmol/L)	0.43 (0.20–0.62)

Table II. Methodological parameters and blood pressure before and after exercise (median and range).

	Before exercise	After exercise	P value
Strain-gauge plethysmography
Resting values arm (mL/min/100 mL tissue)	4.2 (1.5–7.5)	7.3 (3.8–13.4)	< 0.01
Peak reactive hyperemia arm (mL/min/100 mL tissue)	27.4 (13.9–42.7)	29.1 (20.0–44.6)	< 0.01
Peak reactive hyperemia arm corrected for resting values (mL/min/100 mL tissue)	23.3 (10.0–37.8)	24.0 (10.6–34.8)	0.27
Percent change in peak reactive hyperemia	10 (− 47–160)
Peripheral arterial tonometry
PAT hyperemia ratio	2.4 (1.6–3.0)	1.8 (1.4–2.5)	< 0.01
Blood pressure
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	126 (103–155)	133 (107–173)	0.03
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)	69 (51–95)	69 (44–100)	0.06

Figure 1. (a) Correlation between peak reactive hyperemia corrected for basal blood flow (resting values) and the percent change in peak reactive hyperemia after bicycling (r = − 0.68, p < 0.001). (b) Correlation between ADMA and the percent change in peak reactive hyperemia (r = 0.53, p = 0.003).

Table III. Determinants of the percentage change in peak reactive hyperemia.

	Percentage change in peak reactive hyperemia
	Univariate linear regression			Multiple linear regression^a
	β	CI	P	β	CI	P
Age	0.6	− 0.7–1.8	0.36
Systolic BP^b	1.7	0.5–3.0	0.008	1.2	0.2–2.3	0.02
Diastolic BP^c	1.7	0.1–3.3	0.04	1.4	− 0.2–3.0	0.08
Cholesterol	8.2	− 8.8–25	0.33
LDL cholesterol	1.5	− 17.0–20	0.87
HDL cholesterol	36	− 10–82	0.12
Triglycerides	15	− 9.4–40	0.22
Glucose^b	20	9.2–31.1	0.001	14.1	3.9–24	0.01
HbA1c^c	58	14–102	0.01	29.7	− 15–74	0.18
ADMA (μmol/L)^d	246	91–402	0.003	165	34–296	0.02
IL-8 (pg/mL)	0.11	− 0.7–1.0	0.80
IL-10 (pg/mL)^d	28	4.9–50.2	0.02	19.4	− 0.5–39	0.06
OPG (pg/mL)^d	33	4.0–59.5	0.03	7.2	− 21–35	0.60
P-selectin (ng/mL)	0.001	− 0.001–0.003	0.25
TNFRI (pg/mL)^d	0.1	0.002–0.2	0.05	0.03	− 0.08–0.13	0.61
vWF (10–3%)	0.1	− 0.7–0.8	0.85
PAT hyperemia ratio before bicycling	− 42	− 85–1.2	0.06
PAT hyperemia ratio after bicycling	− 3.1	− 66–60	0.92

ADMA, asymmetric dimethylarginine; BP, blood pressure; HbA_1c, glycated hemoglobin A_1c; IL, interleukin; OPG, osteoprotegerin; PAT, peripheral arterial tonometry; TNFRI, tumor necrosis factor receptor inhibitor; vWF, von Willebrand factor.

^aCovariates with a p < 0.10 in univariate regression analyses were included in multiple regression analyses. Each of the following markers: ADMA, IL-10, OPG, and TNFRI were tested together with systolic BP and glucose and then with diastolic BP and HbA1c. The analyses yielded similar results for both inflammatory markers, blood pressure and glucose variables. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as glucose and HbA1c were not included in the same analyses due to covariance.

^bThe multiple linear regression analysis included systolic BP, glucose, and ADMA

^cThe multiple linear regression analysis included diastolic BP, HbA1c, and ADMA

^dThe multiple linear regression analysis included systolic BP and glucose