Alexander, Y., Osto, E., Schmidt-Trucksäss, A. et al. (22 more authors) (2021) Endothelial function in cardiovascular precision medicine: A position paper on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. Cardiovascular Research, 117 (1). pp. 29-42. ISSN 0008-6363
Abstract
Endothelial cells (EC) are sentinels of cardiovascular health. Their function is reduced by the presence of cardiovascular risk factors, and is regained once pathological stimuli are removed. In this European Society for Cardiology Position Paper we describe endothelial dysfunction as a spectrum of phenotypic states and advocate further studies to determine the role of EC subtypes in cardiovascular disease. We conclude that there is no single ideal method for measurement of endothelial function. Techniques to measure coronary epicardial and microvascular function are well established but they are invasive, time-consuming and expensive. Flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) of the brachial arteries provides a non-invasive alternative but is technically challenging and requires extensive training and standardization. We therefore propose that a consensus methodology for FMD is universally adopted to minimize technical variation between studies, and that reference FMD values are established for different populations of healthy individuals and patient groups. Newer techniques to measure endothelial function that are relatively easy to perform, such as finger plethysmography and the retinal flicker test, have the potential for increased clinical use provided a consensus is achieved on the measurement protocol used. We recommend further clinical studies to establish reference values for these techniques and to assess their ability to improve cardiovascular risk stratification. We advocate future studies to determine whether integration of endothelial function measurements with patient-specific epigenetic data and other biomarkers can enhance the stratification of patients for differential diagnosis, disease progression and responses to therapy.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2020. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Cardiovascular Research. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Sheffield Teaching Hospitals |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number WELLCOME TRUST (THE) 214567/Z/18/Z |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 16 Apr 2020 13:01 |
Last Modified: | 23 Nov 2021 16:40 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press (OUP) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/cvr/cvaa085 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:159570 |