Photo Credit: Mohammed Haneefa Nizamudeen

The following is a summary of “Microvascular vasoregulatory dysfunction in African Americans – An enhanced opportunity for early prevention and treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease,” published in the April 2024 issue of Cardiology by Bullock-Palmer et al.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, its risk factors, and its precursors are major contributors to disparities in cardiovascular health.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to determine the correlation between vascular endothelial dysfunction like coronary microvascular dysfunction and disparities in cardiovascular health outcomes among African Americans. 

They used insights from advanced imaging techniques that reveal pathomechanisms, population evidence from the Jackson Heart Study, and data from national and international clinical trials and registries in their evaluation. 

The results showed a physiological framework that recognized insulin-resistant cardiometabolic underpinnings of the conditions of the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential Eight construct of cardiovascular health as a unifying basis that affords early prevention. 

Investigators concluded that mechanistic-based therapeutic approaches could be implemented to interrupt disease progression and acknowledge knowledge gaps. 

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666602224000259