INFLUENCE OF AGE AND GENDER ON SKIN VESSEL REACTIVITY TO ENDOTHELIUM-DEPENDENT AND ENDOTHELIUM-INDEPENDENT VASODILATORS TESTED WITH IONTOPHORESIS AND A LASER-DOPPLER PERFUSION IMAGER

Background. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of age and gender on skin vessel reactivity to one endothelium-dependent vas odilator (acetylcholine, ACh), and two endothelium-independent vasodil ators with different modes of action (nitroprusside and isoprenaline). Methods. The substances were iontophoresed into the skin and the resu lts were mapped through a newly developed laser Doppler perfusion imag er. Thirty-four healthy, nonsmoking individuals without any medication and without atopic constitution participated in the study. The subjec ts, 13 men and 21 women, 18 to 80 years of age, were divided into subg roups according to age and gender. Results. A correlation to age for t he vascular responses to nitroprusside and, to a lesser extent, ACh wa s shown for the women (p = .0036 and .0920 respectively). Differences were also observed between the age and gender subgroups with respect t o their response to these two substances: young and, to a lesser exten t, middle-aged women differed from elderly women and middle-aged and e lderly men. The response to isoprenaline was affected neither by age n or gender. Conclusions. The results of the study suggest that skin ves sel reactivity to nitroprusside and, to a lesser extent, ACh is age de pendent. This might reflect both functional and structural changes in skin vasculature with aging. Gender differences for these two substanc es are also suggested, with women exhibiting a greater increase in per fusion after iontophoresis than men. However, higher vasoconstrictor t one among the women may have influenced the results.