2020 Volume 69 Issue 4 Pages 652-659
Death caused by arteriosclerotic diseases accounts for 24% of mortality cases according to the statistics of Japan. To prevent the development of arteriosclerosis, screening for the early detection of the deterioration of vascular endothelial function, which occurs at the early stage of arteriosclerosis, with high accuracy and efficiency is important. There have been many reports on the evaluation of vascular endothelial function in patients with lifestyle-related diseases and coronary artery disease. However, no survey of healthcare workers who work daily at medical institutions has been reported yet. In this study, we evaluated the vascular endothelial function in healthcare workers by blood-flow-dependent vasodilator response (FMD) tests. We then analyzed the relationship between the FMD test results and the blood data, physical examination findings, or living environmental factors. Twenty seven of 74 subjects showed decreased vascular endothelial function (decreased %FMD value). In the analysis of influencing factors in those individuals, previously reported factors, such as age, blood pressure, blood glucose level, and smoking, were also found to be associated with vascular endothelial dysfunction in our study. In addition, low serum levels of HDL cholesterol were shown to be associated with decreased %FMD values even when they were within the normal range, suggesting that these tests may be useful for the early diagnosis of vascular endothelial dysfunction. To reduce the incidence of atherosclerotic diseases, it is important to diagnose through a screening for those influencing factors and intervene early to prevent vascular endothelial dysfunction.
