Research

Hormonal

Endothelial dysfunction, characterized by impaired nitric oxide (NO) production and increased asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), is an early and independent predictor of cardiovascular events in diabetes, often preceding clinical symptoms.

Your blood vessels' ability to dilate and function properly (endothelial function) is a critical early indicator of heart disease risk, often before plaque builds up. In diabetes, this function is impaired due to low nitric oxide and high ADMA. Managing insulin sensitivity and reducing oxidative stress can help improve endothelial health and reduce CVD risk.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Endothelial dysfunction is now recognized as being an early abnormality in the natural history of CVD and may be a good predictor of cardiovascular events... NO-mediated vasodilation is impaired in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus... Impaired endothelial function was first associated with CVD... epicardial and microvascular coronary endothelial dysfunction independently predict acute cardiovascular events...
Vivian Fonseca et al. · Endocrine Reviews · 2004

Why this rating

Cited studies include prospective follow-ups showing endothelial dysfunction predicts events independently of angiographic findings.

Source

Nontraditional Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in Diabetes

Vivian Fonseca et al. · Endocrine Reviews · 2004

DOI 10.1210/er.2002-0034

narrative_reviewCited 167×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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