Retinal and peripheral vascular function in healthy individuals with low cardiovascular risk

Abstract

This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

European Society of Cardiology/European Society of Hypertension versus the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines on the cut-off values for early hypertension: a microvascular perspective

“…Indeed, it has been shown that, in hypertensive patients, NO www.nature.com/scientificreports/ availability is reduced early in the course of the disease 29 . Although we did not measure either the level of NO or antioxidative markers in our current cohort of patients, in the light of our previous discovery showing that retinal microvascular dysfunction occurs in parallel with changes observed in the level of oxidative stress both in normal 19 and individuals with abnormal BP levels 15 , it is logic to presume that similar abnormalities occurred in our current cohort of individuals with ESC/ESH grade 1 hypertension, thus contributing to the abnormal retinal microvascular function measured in these individuals. Our ESC/ESH grade 1 hypertension also exhibited abnormal retinal venous response to flicker.…”

“…Beside its direct effect on the vascular functionality, hypertension is also known to cause an acceleration of the ageing process of the vascular function 29 . We have previously demonstrated that, in ageing, normal individuals there is a decline in retinal vasoregulative capacity in both dilatory and constrictory phases that was independent of any systemic influences 17 and we have linked this abnormal response to the possibility of an age-related increase in oxidative stress 19 . Nevertheless, the subjects included in the current paper were much younger that those included in our ageing studies.…”

“…SBP as well as diastolic DBP measurements were calculated for the day-time (6 am to 10 pm) and night-time (10 pm to 6 am) intervals. At least 80% of the programmed recordings were required for a diurnal curve to be considered in the present analysis 14,19 .…”

Dry eye disease is associated with retinal microvascular dysfunction and possible risk for cardiovascular disease

“…An aTR below 1 was considered poor cardiovascular reactivity (high risk), whereas an aTR between 1 and 2 was considered intermediate vascular reactivity (medium risk). An aTR of >2 was considered a sign for normal peripheral vascular reactivity (Karimzad, Shokr & Gherghel 2019).…”

Oxysterols and Retinal Microvascular Dysfunction as Early Risk Markers for Cardiovascular Disease in Normal, Ageing Individuals

“…Accordingly, many methods were developed to evaluate functional microvascular responses to biological stimuli in different vascular beds [ 2 ]. One of these methods, the dynamic retinal vessel analysis (DVA), was highlighted as one of the most sensitive and reliable methods to measure early vascular changes that point out early endothelial dysfunction and future risk of cardiovascular pathologies in individuals with and without overt clinical symptoms [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Moreover, it has also been shown that retinal microvascular function is modified by age [ 6 ].…”