Evaluation of microvascular endothelial function in patients with type 1 diabetes using laser-Doppler perfusion monitoring: which method to choose?

The evaluation of microvascular function is essential in the investigation of the pathophysiology of cardiometabolic diseases [Struijker-Boudier, H.A. et al., 2007. Evaluation of the microcirculation in hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Eur. Heart J. 28, 2834-2840]. In clinical research and practice, the study of microcirculation is of great value in the assessment of the effects of medical interventions and monitoring disease progression. It is well-known that patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes have microvascular dysfunction that results from numerous factors including hyperglycemia, oxidative stress and insulin resistance [Schalkwijk, C.G., Stehouwer, C.D., 2005. Vascular complications in diabetes mellitus: the role of endothelial dysfunction. Clin. Sci. (Lond). 109, 143-159]. Moreover, skin microvascular dysfunction in type 1 diabetes precedes symptoms of end-organ microvascular disease [Khan, F. et al., 2000. Impaired skin microvascular function in children, adolescents, and young adults with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes Care 23, 215-220]. In this study, we assessed skin microvascular function of patients with type 1 diabetes using laser-Doppler perfusion monitoring (LDPM) coupled with physiological and pharmacological local vasodilator stimuli.