The impaired endothelial function after a high-fat meal in essential hypertension

Objective To explore the change of endothelium-dependent vasodilatation after a single high-fat meal(800 calories; 50 g fat ) in essential hypertension. Methods Twenty patients with essential hypertension and twenty healthy controls were studied. The concentrations of triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), and HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) in fasting serum and at 2, 4, 5, 7 hours after a single high-fat meal were measured. Endothelial function, in form of flow-mediated vasodilatation, was assessed in the brachial artery by high-resolution ultrasound technique before and after 4 hours of high-fat meal. Results No significant difference in fasting lipid levels between the patients and the controls was found. The postprandial serum triglyceride levels increased significantly at 2, 4, 5 hours in all subjects. Compared to normal subjects the patients had higher serum triglyceride levels at 4, 5 and 7 hours. The fasting and postprandial endothelium-dependent vasodilatation were impaired more seriously in patients(P0.001). The postprandial endothelial function impaired significantly after a high-fat meal in both groups(patients:5.38±1.95 % vs 2.21±1.06 %;controls:9.38±2.42 % vs 6.25±2.23 %;P0.001). The degree of severity of postprandial endothelial function was more serious in paients than in controls(58±14 % vs 33±17 %,P0.001). The increase in 4-hour serum triglyceride level was correlated with the degree of impairment of postprandial endothelial function(r=0.373,P0.05). Conclusions An obvious and persistent postprandial hypertriglyceridemia in patients with essential hypertension induced significantly impairment of postprandial endothelium-dependent vasodilatation.