Giannattasio Cristina, Pozzi MariaRosa, Gardinali Marco, Montemerlo Elisabetta, Citterio Francesca, Maestroni Silvia, Fantini Elena, Failla Monica, Robuschi Maria, Bianco Salvatore, Mancia Giuseppe
Clinica Medica, Milan, Università Milano-Bicocca and S. Gerardo Hospital, Monza (Milan), Italy.
J Hypertens. 2007 Apr;25(4):793-7. doi: 10.1097/HJH.0b013e328032784f.
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterized by an altered nitric oxide (NO): endothelin I ratio and by endothelial dysfunction.
To verify the effects of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) alpha-cyclodestrin treatment on endothelial function, quantified as flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of the radial artery.
In 16 women with SSc (age 57 +/- 2.7 years, means +/- SE) in whom a diagnosis of SSc had been made several years earlier (7.1 +/- 1.2 years), FMD was evaluated by an echotracking technique on the radial artery, using trinitroglycerin vasodilation as a non-endothelial measure of the vessel's ability to increase its diameter maximally. FMD was evaluated after 4 months washout period and after 4 months cyclic infusion of PGE1 alpha-cyclodestrin. Expired NO was measured at the same time.
PGE1 alpha-cyclodestrin cyclic infusions did not modify systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate or trinitroglycerin radial artery vasodilation. On the other hand, it induced a marked and significant increase in FMD of the radial artery, which was also accompanied by an increase in blood flow and expired NO.
Endothelial dysfunction and reduced FMD associated with SSc are improved by cyclic treatment with PGE1 alpha-cyclodestrin. This effect occurs together with a concomitant increase in expired NO, suggesting its direct positive influence on endothelial function. It may also partly explain the clinical beneficial effect of the drug in SSc.
