Structural And Functional State Of Various Zones Of Skin Microcirculation In Men With Isolated Diastolic Hypertension

The objective of our study was to assess the structural and functional characteristics of various skin microcirculation zones in men with newly diagnosed isolated diastolic hypertension (IDH). Material and Methods — Our study sample included 275 men (aged 30 to 60 years) subjected to the comprehensive medical examination, which included blood tests, videocapillaroscopy (VCS) on the left ring finger, laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) in the skin of the middle finger tip and forearm at rest, functional tests and photoplethysmography (PPG) on the left forefinger, determination of flow-mediated vasodilation of the brachial artery, echocardiography, ultrasound imaging of extracranial and femoral arteries, and also 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). According to the ABPM data, an isolated increase in diastolic blood pressure (BP) was noted in 83 subjects who formed the IDH group. The control group (CG) consisted of 90 men with normal BP. Results — VCS and LDF revealed no significant differences between the groups at the scale of capillaries and precapillary arterioles. According to PPG, IDH subjects had significantly higher values of reflection index vs. the CG (35.6% vs. 30.4%, p=0.0013) and lower values of ejection duration (310.5 ms and 319.5 ms, p=0.0159), respectively. Conclusion — The greatest contribution to peripheral vascular resistance in men with IDH most likely comes from large muscle arterioles, in which neurogenic regulation of vascular tone prevails.