Peace Arron, Van Mil Anke, Jones Helen, Thijssen Dick H J
Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Physiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Curr Cardiol Rev. 2018;14(4):254-263. doi: 10.2174/1573403X14666180910125638.
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Strategies to predict development of CVD are therefore key in preventing and managing CVD. One stratergy in predicting CVD is by examining the role of traditional risk factors for CVD (e.g. age, sex, weight, blood pressure, blood lipids, blood glucose, smoking and physical activity). Although these measures are non-invasive and simple to perform, they provide limited information of CVD prediction. Directly examining functional characteristics of arteries that are involved in the pathophysiological changes that contribute to the development of CVD improve prediction of future CVD. Nevertheless, examining the function of arteries susceptible to atherosclortic changes, such as the coronary arteries, is invasive, expensive, and associated with high risk for complications. More accessible arteries can be used as a surrogate measure of coronary artery function. For example, the carotid artery may be a superior surrogate measure of coronary artery function given that, the carotid artery represents a central vessel that shows similarities in vasomotor function and anatomical structure with coronary arteries.
This review summarises the similarities between the carotid and coronary arteries, describes how both arteries respond to specific vasoactive stimuli, and discusses if the easily assessible carotid artery can provide information about vascular function (e.g. vasomotor reactivity to sympathetic stimulation) which is prognostic for future cardiovascular events. Finally, the impact of older age and lifestyle interventions (e.g. exercise training) on carotid artery function will be discussed.
心血管疾病（CVD）仍然是发病和死亡的主要原因之一。因此，预测CVD发展的策略是预防和管理CVD的关键。预测CVD的一种策略是检查CVD传统危险因素（如年龄、性别、体重、血压、血脂、血糖、吸烟和身体活动）的作用。尽管这些措施是非侵入性的且易于实施，但它们提供的CVD预测信息有限。直接检查参与导致CVD发展的病理生理变化的动脉功能特征可改善对未来CVD的预测。然而，检查易发生动脉粥样硬化改变的动脉（如冠状动脉）的功能是侵入性的、昂贵的，且与高并发症风险相关。更易接近的动脉可作为冠状动脉功能的替代指标。例如，鉴于颈动脉是一个中心血管，其血管运动功能和解剖结构与冠状动脉相似，颈动脉可能是冠状动脉功能的更好替代指标。
本综述总结了颈动脉和冠状动脉之间的相似性，描述了这两种动脉如何对特定血管活性刺激作出反应，并讨论了易于评估的颈动脉是否能提供有关血管功能（如对交感神经刺激的血管运动反应性）的信息，而这种信息对未来心血管事件具有预后价值。最后，将讨论老年和生活方式干预（如运动训练）对颈动脉功能的影响。
