Preserved endothelial-dependent and endothelial-independent skin vasodilator responses in relatives of type 1 diabetes patients.

Since increased plasma and cell levels of oxidative products have been found in non diabetic relatives of type 1 diabetic patients, we hypothesized the occurrence of an endothelial dysfunction in these subjects. To verify this hypothesis we investigated the skin blood flow responses to iontophoresis of both the endothelial-dependent vasodilator acetylcholine (ACh) and the endothelial-independent vasodilator sodium nitroprusside (SNP) in 31 non diabetic healthy relatives (DR) (14 siblings, 17 parents) of 17 type 1 diabetic patients. Twenty healthy control subjects (CS) without a family history of diabetes, matched for age (+/-5 years) and gender, were also investigated.