Age-Dependent Decline in Common Femoral Artery Flow-Mediated Dilation and Wall Shear Stress in Healthy Subjects
Mariam Bapir,
Gavrielle R. Untracht,
Julie E. A. Hunt,
John H. McVey,
Jenny Harris,
Simon S. Skene,
Paola Campagnolo,
Nikolaos Dikaios,
Ana Rodriguez-Mateos,
David D. Sampson,
Danuta M. Sampson,
Christian Heiss
Affiliations
Mariam Bapir
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Gavrielle R. Untracht
Optical + Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Perth 6009, Australia
Julie E. A. Hunt
School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
John H. McVey
Department of Biochemical Sciences, School of Biosciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Jenny Harris
School of Health Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Simon S. Skene
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Paola Campagnolo
Department of Biochemical Sciences, School of Biosciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Nikolaos Dikaios
Mathematics Research Center, Academy of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece
Ana Rodriguez-Mateos
Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Course and Population Sciences, Faculty of Life Science and Medicine, King’s College London, London SE1 9NH, UK
David D. Sampson
Surrey Biophotonics, Advanced Technology Institute, School of Physics and School of Biosciences and Medicine, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Danuta M. Sampson
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Christian Heiss
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Femoral artery (FA) endothelial function is a promising biomarker of lower extremity vascular health for peripheral artery disease (PAD) prevention and treatment; however, the impact of age on FA endothelial function has not been reported in healthy adults. Therefore, we evaluated the reproducibility and acceptability of flow-mediated dilation (FMD) in the FA and brachial artery (BA) (n = 20) and performed cross-sectional FA- and BA-FMD measurements in healthy non-smokers aged 22–76 years (n = 50). FMD protocols demonstrated similar good reproducibility. Leg occlusion was deemed more uncomfortable than arm occlusion; thigh occlusion was less tolerated than forearm and calf occlusion. FA-FMD with calf occlusion was lower than BA-FMD (6.0 ± 1.1% vs 6.4 ± 1.3%, p = 0.030). Multivariate linear regression analysis indicated that age (−0.4%/decade) was a significant independent predictor of FA-FMD (R2 = 0.35, p = 0.002). The age-dependent decline in FMD did not significantly differ between FA and BA (pinteraction agexlocation = 0.388). In older participants, 40% of baseline FA wall shear stress (WSS) values were 2, which is regarded as pro-atherogenic. In conclusion, endothelial function declines similarly with age in the FA and the BA in healthy adults. The age-dependent FA enlargement results in a critical decrease in WSS that may explain part of the age-dependent predisposition for PAD.
