Impaired brachial artery endothelium-dependent dilation exists at the early stage of type 1 diabetes mellitus

Objective To study the alteration of endothelium dependent vasodilation in the patients at the early stage of type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods Twenty two type 1 DM patients and 20 healthy individuals were selected, and high resolution ultrasound examination was performed to measure changes in inner diameter of brachial artery at rest, after reactive hyperemia with increased flow (an endothelium dependent dilation) and after sublingual glyceryltrinitrate (GNT, an endothelium independent dialator). Results The flow mediated arterial dilation in type 1 DM group was3.83%,whichwassignificantlylowerthan that in control (4.87%, P0.05). The baseline vessel inner diameter, baseline flow and GNT induced arterial dilation between the two groups were not significantly different. Conclusion The endothelium dependent arterial dilation is decreased in the patients during the early stage of type 1 DM.