Assessment of endothelial dysfunction in patients with impaired glucose tolerance during a cold pressor test.

The objective of this study is to explore changes in microvascular tone during a contralateral cold pressor test and to compare the results obtained in healthy subjects and in patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes. Low-amplitude fluctuations of skin temperature in the appropriate frequency ranges were used as a characteristic for the mechanism for vascular tone regulation. In total, 13 adults with type 2 diabetes aged 40-67 years and 18 adults with IGT aged 31-60 years participated in this pilot study. The control group included 12 healthy men and women aged 39-60 years. The response to the cold pressor test in patients with type 2 diabetes and with IGT differs essentially from that of healthy subjects in the endothelial frequency range. Endothelial dysfunction occurs in the preclinical stage of diabetes and manifests, in particular, as a disturbance of the endothelial part of vascular tone regulation.