Hyperglycemic endothelial dysfunction: does it happen and does it matter?

Abstract

In the September issue of Arteriosclerosis , Thrombosis and Vascular Biology , Loader et al. (1) present the results of a meta-analysis on the effect of acute hyperglycemia on vascular function. The authors did an extensive search of literature and report on findings in 39 studies that measured endothelial function and/or vascular smooth muscle function during euglycemia and during acute induction of hyperglycemia. The studies varied considerably in terms of subject type, age, method of induction of hyperglycemia, and method of measurement of endothelial function. The authors in the analysis specifically focus on differences between studies that measured macrovascular versus microvascular endothelial function.