Premium
Endothelial Dependent Cerebrovascular Dysfunction in US Veterans with Combat Related Health Issues
Author(s) -
Reyes Levy,
Blatt Melissa,
Acosta Amanda,
Serrador Jorge
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.803.11
Subject(s) - medicine , endothelial dysfunction , vasodilation , cardiology , etiology , population , traumatic brain injury , vasoconstriction , endothelium , cognition , cerebral blood flow , psychiatry , environmental health
US Veterans are exposed to a variety of unique risks during active duty which can result in several disorders including Blast Injury, Gulf War Illness (GWI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Despite the different etiologies cognitive impairment is common in these conditions. In the civilian population, diseases such as hypertension and Alzheimer's disease, where cognitive impairments are prevalent, there exist disruptions to the vasodilatory properties of the cerebral blood vessels. Whether Veterans demonstrate this impairment or how it affects cognitive function is currently not well understood. Here we demonstrate impaired cerebral vasodilatory function to CO 2 in a cohort of Veterans with either Blast injury, GWI or PTSD(GWI ‐ 1.64 ± 0.2; PTSD ‐ 1.45 ± 0.2; Blast ‐ 0.99 ± 0.3 % increase in flow/mmHg CO 2 ), when compared to healthy civilians (2.36 ± 0.2 %/mmHg CO 2 ). In contrast vasoconstriction was not disturbed(Healthy Civilians ‐ 2.63 ± 0.2; GWI ‐ 2.79 ± 0.1; PTSD – 2.81 ± 0.3; Blast – 2.78 ± 0.3 % decrease in flow/mmHg CO 2 ), an indication that the endothelium and not the smooth muscle is impaired. This is an important distinction in the mechanism of vascular dysfunction; had the smooth muscle been impaired the constrictive properties of the cerebral blood vessels would also have been blunted. Thus the cerebrovascular dysfunction is likely of endothelial origin. Given our results, underlying cerebrovascular dysfunction seems to be present in these Veterans, which could partly explain the cognitive issues found in Blast injury, GWI and PTSD, similar to what is seen in related diseases, (eg Hypertension/Alzheimer's). Further work is necessary to understand the mechanism of cerebral endothelium impairment.