Introduction: Elevated luminal homocysteine has been linked with cardiovascular disease; however, whether there is a direct effect of homocysteine on blood vessel endothelium is not clear. In this study, the acute effect of luminal homocysteine on iliac artery endothelial function was assessed in the anaesthetised pig.
Methods: Hyperhomocysteinaemic blood was injected into an occluded segment of the iliac in the anaesthetised pig for 20 min, and the effect on atrial diameter during the occlusion and during the reactive hyperaemia assessed.
Results: No significant changes in arterial diameter or pressure were observed during the incubation period at homocysteine concentrations of 10, 20, 40 and 100 µ<sc>M</sc>. There was also no difference in the magnitude of the iliac diameter increase in the response to reactive hyperaemia when the incubation period was completed.
Conclusion: There is no evidence of endothelial dysfunction in response to an acute 20-min elevation in homocysteine in an intact conduit artery.
Keywords: Endothelium; Homocysteine; Shear stress; Vascular disease.
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