Peripheral artery endothelial function responses to altered shear stress patterns in humans

Abstract

What is the central question of this study? What is the effect of altered shear stress pattern, with or without concurrent neurohumoral and metabolic activation, on the acute endothelial function response assessed via brachial artery flow‐mediated dilatation? What is the main finding and its importance? Despite generating distinctive shear stress patterns (i.e. increases in anterograde only, anterograde only with neurohumoral and metabolic activation, and both anterograde and retrograde), similar acute improvements were observed in the brachial artery flow‐mediated dilatation response in all conditions, indicating that anterograde and/or turbulent shear stress might be the essential element to induce acute increases in endothelial function.