Impaired Vascular Reactivity in Healthy First-Degree Relatives of Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes Is Related to Metabolic Factors

Several studies have suggested that vascular changes precede the development of metabolic disorders in first-degree relatives of subjects with type 2 diabetes, indicating that being a first-degree relative of a subject with type 2 diabetes is a risk per se for vascular dysfunction (1–3). However, these studies have failed to control for relevant metabolic and inflammatory variables that are usually altered in first-degree relatives of subjects with type 2 diabetes and are known to impair vascular reactivity (4).To investigate the hypothesis that vascular reactivity in first-degree relatives of subjects with type 2 diabetes without metabolic disorders is similar to that in a control group without history of type 2 diabetes, 42 first-degree relatives of subjects with type 2 diabetes (79% women; mean ± SD age 33 ± 9 years) and 45 age- and sex-matched control subjects (78% women; age 34 ± 9 years) were recruited. Vascular reactivity was …