Acute effect of various dosages of sugar ingestion on vascular function in offspring of hypertensive and normotensive parents.

Objectives: We aimed to study vascular function in healthy men with a parental history of hypertension compared to those without. Acute effect of various dosages of sugar ingestion on vascular function was also investigated in both groups.

Methods: Thirty-two healthy men were recruited and divided into two groups, offspring of hypertensive parents (OHT) and offspring of normotensive parents (ONT). Participants were orally given 15, 30, and 60 g of sucrose solution compared to water. Peak forearm blood flow (FBF), forearm vascular resistance (FVR), pulse wave velocity (PWV), and oxidative stress markers were measured at baseline and after sucrose intake at 30, 60, 90, and 120 min.

Results: At baseline, peak FBF was significantly lower (22.40 ± 1.18 vs. 25.24 ± 0.63 ml × dl -1  × min -1 , P  < 0.001), FVR was significantly higher (3.73 ± 0.42 vs. 3.30 ± 0.26 mmHg × ml -1  × dl × min, P  = 0.002), and PWV was significantly faster (6.31 ± 0.59 vs. 5.78 ± 0.61 m/s, P  = 0.017) in OHT than ONT. After each sucrose intake, peak FBF significantly declined and was lowest at 30 min in both groups. The reduction in peak FBF was seen in all doses of sucrose and the higher dose of sucrose intervened, the longer reduction in peak FBF observed.

Conclusions: Vascular function was attenuated in healthy men with a family history of hypertension and became worse after sucrose ingestion even at the low dose. Our findings suggest that the ones, especially those with a parental history of hypertension, should reduce sugar consumption as low as possible.