B024: Increased muscle sympathetic nerve activity contributes to disturbed large artery distensibility in renal transplant patients

In renal transplant recipients (RTX) both increased sympathetic nerve activity and disturbed mechanical vessel wall properties of large arteries are observed. To investigate a possible relation between the two, we measured in RTX receiving cyclosporine (RTX-CSA, n=16) or tacrolimus (RTX-FK, n=16) and in healthy volunteers (CTR, n=10) blood pressure (MAP, automatic sphygmomanometer), muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA, microneurography) and distensibility coefficients of the brachial and carotid arteries (DC bra, DC car, pulsed doppler). Data are mean±SEM. There was a significant correlation between DC bra and MSNA (r=−0.46, p