The association of arterial shear and flow-mediated dilation in diabetes.

While adjusting flow-mediated dilation (FMD), a measure of vascular function, for shear rate may be important when evaluating endothelial-dependent vasodilation, the relationship of FMD with shear rate in study populations with cardiovascular risk factors is unclear. We aimed to investigate the association of four measures of shear rate (peak shear rate (SRpeak) and shear rate area under the curve through 30 seconds (SRAUC 0–30), 60 seconds (SRAUC 0–60), and time to peak dilation (SRAUC 0–ttp)) with FMD in 50 study subjects with type 2 diabetes and mild hypertension undergoing baseline FMD testing for an exercise intervention trial. Associations among measures of shear rate and FMD were evaluated using Pearson’s correlations and R2. The four measures of shear rate were highly correlated within subjects, with Pearson’s correlations ranging from 0.783 (p < 0.001) to 0.972 (p < 0.001). FMD was associated with each measure of shear rate, having a correlation of 0.576 (p < 0.001) with SRAUC 0–30, 0.529 (p < 0....