The study was designed to explore flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) and endothelium
function in children with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). The patient
group consisted of 46 children 12 ± 3 years of age who were diagnosed with POTS from
June 2008 to January 2009 by head-up test or head-up tilt test at Peking University
First Hospital. Twenty healthy children 12 ± 4 years of age were selected for the
control group. Plasma concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) and activity of NO synthase
(NOS) were determined in the patient and control groups. FMD of each participant's
brachial artery was measured using color Doppler vascular ultrasound and a comparison
of FMDs and plasma NO and NOS activities between the 2 groups was done using independent
t test. No significant differences were found between the POTS and control groups in
age, sex ratio, height, body weight, baseline blood pressure, heart rate, and baseline
brachial artery diameter. Patients in the POTS group had larger FMD (10.8 ± 4.4%)
than children in the control group (5.7 ± 2.2%), and this difference was significant
(p <0.01). Plasma NO and NOS levels were significantly higher in the POTS group than
in the control group (NO 74 ± 19 μmol/L in POTS group vs 62 ± 6 μmol/L in control
group, p <0.01; NOS 21 ± 3 U/mL in POTS group vs 15 ± 1 U/mL in control group, p <0.01).
In addition, there was a significant correlation between FMD and the NOS activity.
In conclusion, augmented FMD and abnormal function of vascular endothelium may play
an important role in POTS in children.
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
March 17,
2010
Received in revised form:
March 17,
2010
Received:
December 23,
2009
Footnotes
This work was supported by the Beijing Scientific and Technologic Star Program (2008A007), Beijing, People's Republic of China, Changjiang Scholar Program and the Major Basic Research Project of China (2006CB503807), China, and the Capital Medical Development Foundation (2007-2003), Beijing, Peoples Republic of China.
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© 2010 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
