Atherosclerosis is emerging as one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality among patients with different rheumatologic disease. Endothelial dysfunction may be an early sign of atherosclerosis.
To evaluate the occurrence of endothelial dysfunction in children with autoimmune diseases, including juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and dermatomyositis, using a novel noninvasive technique.
The study group consisted of 24 children with autoimmune diseases, and was compared to a control group of 17 healthy, age- and BMI-matched controls. Endothelial function was assessed by a noninvasive technology that captures a beat-to-beat plethysmographic recording of the finger arterial pulse-wave amplitude with pneumatic probes, utilizing a Peripheral Arterial Tonometry (PAT) device.
In the study group, 7 out of the 24 (29%) patients had evidence of impaired endothelial function, compared to 1 out of 17 (6%) children in the control group (p <0.05). Thirty-three per cent of our patients with SLE and 23% of patients with JIA had impaired endothelial function. There were no differences between the two groups of patients with and without endothelial dysfunction as to age, body mass index, fasting glucose level, triglycerides, cholesterol, and dose and duration of steroid treatment. The patients with normal endothelial function had higher systolic blood pressure compared with the group with impaired endothelial function (112.82 ± 7.65 vs13.88 ± 104.85 respectively, p=0.04).
Children with autoimmune diseases may have a high tendency to develop endothelial dysfunction. Larger studies are needed to confirm our findings and to explore the influence of endothelial dysfunction on the development of atherosclerosis in young children.