A drug that improves function of retinal blood vessels may be able to reduce the risk of
stroke, according to a report in today’s rapid access issue of
Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
The small study found that endothelial function is abnormal in eye blood vessels of patients who have early-stage hypertension, but that treatment with an angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB) drug improves endothelial function. The endothelium is the lining of vessel walls and plays a key role in the vessels’ ability to relax and to constrict.
Because of the similarity between retinal and brain blood vessels, the findings also suggest that the drug can improve the function of brain vessels, said lead author Christian Delles, M.D., currently a research fellow at the British Heart Foundation Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Center in Glasgow, U.K.
Delles conducted the study at the Clinical Research Center headed by Professor Roland Schmieder at University of Erlangen-Nurnberg in Erlangen, Germany.
“Studying the reaction of blood vessels in the eyes may offer insight into stroke prevention by revealing how blood vessels in the brain react to high blood pressure, a major risk factor for stroke,” he said.
The study involved 38 young adults (average age 27), half of whom had early-stage hypertension. The patients randomly received the drug candesartan cilexetil or placebo for seven days, followed by measurements of blood flow in retinal vessels. Each patient was then switched to the opposite treatment (candesartan or placebo) and treated for another seven days, after which the retinal blood flow studies were repeated.