INTERPRETATION OF THE ACETYLCHOLINE TEST OF ENDOTHELIAL-CELL DYSFUNCTION IN HYPERTENSION

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In the hypertensive circulation, endothelial cells may release less nitric oxide or more endothelin-1, both powerful vasoactive substances, suggesting an attractive hypothesis for the initiation or reinforcement of hypertension. These substances, however, are not the only way that endothelial dysfunction could be involved in hypertension. In this work we examine the role of the endothelium as a diffusion barrier to vasoconstrictor substances, as a metabolic barrier and as a secretory source of paracrine hormones. REVIEW OF DATA: The evidence that endothelial cell dysfunction occurs in different forms of hypertension comes mainly from the loss of relaxation revealed by the 'acetyl..