Endothelial function as intermediary endpoint in hypertension: comments.

Abstract

The attractiveness of endothelial function as an intermediary or surrogate endpoint in hypertension and antihypertensive therapy, respectively, is obviously based on the widely accepted response-to-injury theory. According to the theory, endothelial functions are disturbed early on in the development of atherosclerosis and, by inference, an improvement of endothelial function should be, at least in theory, an important step towards prevention or retardation of the atherosclerotic process. However, when scrutinizing studies performed to this end in hypertension a number of unresolved issues remain.