Endothelium-dependent vasodilation is impaired in healthy offspring of hypertensive parents.

OBJECTIVES

Impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation has been demonstrated in asymptomatic normotensive offspring of hypertensive parents in Caucasians and Chinese population. The study was designed to determine whether impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation is present in Indian normotensive offspring with hypertensive parents.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We conducted this study in non smoker, healthy, young volunteers with a positive (n = 45) or a negative parental history (n = 30) of essential hypertension in a case-control, blinded design. The subjects underwent a thorough clinical and routine laboratory evaluation. A high resolution ultrasound was used to assess endothelium-dependent brachial artery flow-mediated dilation by a single observer blinded to the family histories. The brachial artery diameters at baseline and after occlusion release, flow mediated dilatation %, brachial intima-media thickness/lumen diameter were obtained and compared between the two groups using student's t-test. There was no significant difference between the two groups in age, sex, body mass index, blood pressure and total cholesterol levels. However, there was a statistically significant impairment of flow mediated dilatation amongst subjects with parental history of hypertension compared to controls (6.87 SD 8.14 % vs 11.31 SD 5.17%, p < 0.01). Multiple regression analysis revealed no association of FMD with age, blood pressure, BMI or total cholesterol in those with or without parental hypertension.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrated impaired brachial artery flow mediated dilatation amongst normotensive offspring with parental hypertension compared to controls. This suggests that endothelial dysfunction possibly precedes clinical hypertension and might have a role in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension.