Background~The development of microvascular complications in diabetes is a complex process, in which endothelial dysfunction is of importance. Emerging evidence suggests that arginase is a key mediator of endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by reciprocally regulating nitric oxide bioavailability. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that arginase activity is increased and that arginase contributes to microvascular endothelial function in patients with T2DM and microvascular dysfunction.~Method~Microvascular endothelium-dependent and -independent vasodilatation are investigated in patients with T2DM (n =12) and healthy age-matched control subjects (n =12) with laser-Doppler flowmetry during iontophoretic application of acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside, respectively, before and after intra-arterial administration of the arginase inhibitor N-hydroxy-nor-L-arginine (0.1 mg/min) for 120 min.
The present project is designed to test the hypothesis that arginase contributes to microvascular endothelial dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes and microvascular complications.