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Endothelial function: 20 years of clinical investigation

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor Patrick Vallance
BHF Laboratories, Division of Medicine, University College London, London W1P 9LN, UK; patrick.vallance@ucl.ac.uk

Keywords: endothelial function

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In 1980 Furchgott and Zawadzki described the phenomenon of endothelium dependent relaxation¹ and identified a novel labile relaxant factor later identified as nitric oxide. A few years earlier John Vane and colleagues² had identified prostacyclin as a potent antiplatelet agent released from endothelial cells. Together these findings stimulated a huge increase in clinical research in vascular mechanisms and endothelial function. Twenty years on it is time to take stock.

The three articles in this mini-symposium place the research on endothelial function in a clinical context. Deanfield and Halcox outline the evidence that changes in endothelium dependent relaxation can be detected even in children and that this may represent the very earliest changes that ultimately lead to atherosclerosis. Hingorani takes this discussion into the realms of nature versus nurture debate by identifying the potential impact of genetic variations in determining key aspects of endothelial function. Finally, Vita addresses the question of . . . [Full text of this article]