Study of the Response of Human Small Blood Vessels

March 3, 2008 updated by: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Study of the Relation Between In Vivo and In Vitro Response of Human Small Vessels

A layer of cells called the endothelium line the walls of blood vessels. These cells produce substances that control the tone of blood vessels and thus control blood flow through the vessel. One of the substances produced involved in the control of blood vessel function is nitric oxide. Nitric oxide (NO) plays a role in the relaxation of blood vessels.

Researchers have been interested in the function of the endothelium in patients with high blood pressure (essential hypertension) and patients with high cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia).

After conducting studies on the endothelium and nitric oxide, researchers have found that the endothelium is indeed functioning abnormally in patients with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. In addition, researchers have determined that the dysfunction is a result of abnormalities in the nitric oxide (NO) system.

In this study researchers plan to investigate the relationship between blood vessel responses in real-life settings versus laboratory settings in normal volunteers, patients with high blood pressure, and patients with high cholesterol.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Over the last ten years, we have been interested in the investigation of endothelial function in patients with essential hypertension and patients with hypercholesterolemia. We have performed intra-arterial infusion of endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent drugs into the brachial artery with noninvasive measurement of the response of the forearm vasculature by means of strain gauge plethysmography. Those studies have allowed us to: a) demonstrate the presence of endothelial dysfunction in patients with essential hypertension and in patients with hypercholesterolemia; and b) identify an abnormality in the endothelium-derived nitric oxide system that is responsible for endothelial dysfunction in these patients. Further studies to more precisely determine the intracellular processes that mediate this abnormality in endothelial function in these patients are limited by the inherent shortcomings of the in vivo technique. An alternative possibility is the study of human small vessels in vitro; however, the relationship between in vivo and in vitro vascular responses to endothelium-dependent and -independent agonists has not been established. In the present study, we propose to investigate this relationship in normal volunteers, patients with essential hypertension, and patients with hypercholesterolemia.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

87

Phase

  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Maryland
      • Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
        • National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Patients (men and nonpregnant women) with systemic hypertension, patients with hypercholesterolemia, and normal volunteers.

All blood pressure recordings must be consistently elevated.

No renovascular hypertension or other etiologies for elevated blood pressure.

No definite evidence of accelerated or malignant hypertension (diastolic pressures above 115 mmHg, with associated encephalopathic changes, papilledema, progressive renal failure, or congestive heart failure), or serious intercurrent illness.

Patients in whom withdrawal of antihypertensive medications is considered hazardous are ineligible.

Patients in whom the blood pressure remains at normal levels 2 weeks after withdrawal of antihypertensive treatment will be closely monitored until they become hypertensive, at which time they will undergo the study. Patients in whom blood pressure does not increase after 2 months of discontinuation of therapy will be excluded from the study.

Patients with coexistent hypertension and hypercholesterolemia are ineligible.

Normal volunteers who are not taking any kind of medication are eligible.

No history of diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, coagulopathy, or any other disease predisposing to vasculitis or Raynaud's phenomenon.

No history of keloid formation.

All patients must be capable of giving informed consent for all procedures.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

March 1, 1997

Study Completion

March 1, 2001

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 3, 1999

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 9, 2002

First Posted (Estimate)

December 10, 2002

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 4, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 3, 2008

Last Verified

January 1, 2000

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 970098
  • 97-H-0098

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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