Changes of brachial artery diastolic function in aged patients with systemic inflammatory reaction syndrome

Objective To study the changes of vascular endothelial dilation function in aged patients with systemic inflammatory reaction syndrome（SIRS）. Methods Eighty-two aged patients with SIRS were divided into survival group（n=58） and death group（n=24）.Twenty-two non-SIRS patients served as a control group.Their plasma levels of endothelin-1（ET-1）,C-reactive protein（CRP）,interleukin-1（IL-1） and TNF-α were measured.Endothelium-dependent vascular dilation function mediated by brachial artery and nitroglycerine was observed by high resolution ultrasonography. Results The plasma levels of TNF-α,ET-1,IL-1 and CRP were significantly higher in SIRS patients and survival group than in controls（P＜0.05）.The endothelium-dependent vascular dilation function mediated by brachial artery was significantly lower in SIRS patients than in controls（2.21±0.18 vs 2.80±0.21,P＜0.01） and in death group than in survival group,while the endothelium-dependent vascular dilation function mediated by nitroglycerine was significantly higher in SIRS patients than in controls（P＜0.01） and lower in death group than in survival group（P＜0.01）.The plasma levels of TNF-α,ET-1,IL-1 and CRP were negatively correlated with endothelium-dependent vascular dilation function（P＜0.01）. Conclusion The endothelium-dependent vascular dilation function of patients with SIRS is obviously injured,which is correlated with the severity of SIRS.