Tetrahydrobiopterin improves endothelial dysfunction in coronary microcirculation in patients without epicardial coronary artery disease
Soko Setoguchi, MDa,
Masahiro Mohri, MD, PhDa,
Hiroaki Shimokawa, MD, PhDa and
Akira Takeshita, MD, PhDa
a Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka, Japan
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Figure 1 Changes in coronary blood flow (CBF) in response to acetylcholine. Baseline CBF is expressed as 100%. *p < 0.0001 for acetylcholine (two-way analysis of variance) in both groups. Data, means ± SEM. See text for detail. Ach = acetylcholine.
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Figure 2 Effects of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) on acetylcholine-induced increases in coronary blood flow in normal response group (A) and diminished response group (B). *p < 0.0001 for treatment (BH4) by two-way analysis of variance. Ach = acetylcholine.
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Figure 3 Representative tracings of coronary blood flow velocities in a patient of diminished response group. Ach = acetylcholine; BH4 = tetrahydrobiopterin.
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Figure 4 Relationship between the maximal coronary blood flow (CBF) response to acetylcholine before tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) (x-axis) and changes in CBF response after BH4 (y-axis) in 15 patients from both groups. There is a statistically significant inverse correlation (p < 0.01, r = –0.651).
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