Decreased Microvascular Nitric Oxide–Dependent Vasodilation in Postural Tachycardia Syndrome

Abstract

Background— One variant of postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS), designated low-flow POTS, is associated with decreased peripheral blood flow related to impaired local vascular regulation. Methods and Results— To investigate the hypothesis that microvascular endothelial dysfunction produces decreased peripheral blood flow in low-flow POTS, we performed experiments using laser-Doppler flowmetry (LDF) combined with iontophoresis in 15 low-flow POTS patients, 17 normal-flow POTS patients, and 13 healthy reference volunteers varying in age from 14 to 22 years. We tested whether α-adrenergic vasoregulation was impaired using iontophoretic delivery of tyramine, phentolamine, and bretylium followed by a norepinephrine dose response. We tested endothelial-dependent and -independent receptor-mediated vasodilation by measuring acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside dose responses. We tested whether nitric oxide–dependent vasodilation was different in these groups by testing the local thermal hyperemic response to saline used as a reference compared with the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N G -nitro- l -arginine methyl ester (L-NAME). Adrenergic and receptor-dependent cutaneous vasoregulation was similar for low-flow POTS, normal-flow POTS, and reference subjects. Thermal hyperemia produced distinctly different findings: there was marked attenuation of the nitric oxide–sensitive plateau during prolonged heating, which was insensitive to L-NAME in low-flow POTS subjects. The pattern of thermal hyperemia response in low-flow POTS subjects during saline administration resembled the pattern in reference subjects during L-NAME administration and was minimally affected by L-NAME. Conclusions— The data suggest that flow-dependent nitric oxide release is reduced in low-flow POTS. This may account for local flow regulation abnormalities.