Postischemic Microcirculatory Blood Flow Correlates Negatively and Independently With Plasma C-Reactive Protein in Longstanding Type 1 Diabetes
- James Gibney1,
- Ute Weis2,
- Ben Turner1,
- Daryl R. Meeking2,
- Jane Cansfield2,
- Gerald F. Watts3,
- Ken M. Shaw2 and
- Michael H. Cummings2
- 1St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, U.K.
- 2Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, U.K.
- 3University Department of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Australia
Moderately increased plasma C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute phase protein produced by the liver and an exquisitely sensitive marker of inflammation, is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (1). It is not known how systemic inflammation leads to atherosclerosis, but experimental (2) and clinical (3) studies have suggested that it may do so by causing endothelial dysfunction, a process central to the development of atherosclerosis.
Reactive hyperemia (RH) is an endothelium-dependent, physiological, and probably protective response to tissue ischemia that is reduced in patients with atherosclerosis or risk factors for atherosclerosis. The forearm vascular bed, which is readily accessible and rarely affected by atheromatous change, is a useful site to study RH using noninvasive techniques. A close relationship has been shown between coronary endothelial function and RH in the human …
