{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]],"date-time":"2026-06-02T15:46:55Z","timestamp":1780415215449,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":84,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,9]],"date-time":"2021-09-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1631145600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: The etiology of autoimmune rheumatic diseases is unknown. Endothelial dysfunction and premature atherosclerosis are commonly seen in these patients. Atherosclerosis is considered one of the main causes of cardiovascular diseases. Hypertension is considered the most important traditional cardiovascular risk. This case-control study aimed to investigate the relationship between autoimmune diseases and cardiovascular risk. Methods: This study was carried out in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, RA (n = 10), primary Sj\u00f6gren syndrome, PSS (n = 10), and healthy controls (n = 10). Mean blood pressure (MBP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and pulse wave velocity (PWV, an indicator of arterial stiffness) were assessed via a Vicorder device. Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) was measured via ELISA. Retinal photos were taken via a CR-2 retinal camera, and retinal microvasculature analysis was carried out. T-tests were conducted to compare the disease and control groups. ANOVA and ANOVA\u2014ANCOVA were also used for the correction of covariates. Results: A high prevalence of hypertension was seen in RA (80% of cases) and PSS (40% of cases) compared to controls (only 20% of cases). Significant changes were seen in MBP (RA 101 \u00b1 11 mmHg; PSS 93 \u00b1 10 mm Hg vs. controls 88 \u00b1 7 mmHg, p = 0.010), SBP (148 \u00b1 16 mmHg in RA vs. 135 \u00b1 16 mmHg in PSS vs. 128 \u00b1 11 mmHg in control group; p = 0.007), DBP (77 \u00b1 8 mmHg in RA, 72 \u00b1 8 mmHg in PSS vs. 67 \u00b1 6 mmHg in control; p = 0.010 in RA compared to the controls). Patients with PSS showed no significant difference as compared to controls (MBP: p = 0.240, SBP: p = 0.340, DBP: p = 0.190). Increased plasma ADMA was seen in RA (0.45 \u00b1 0.069 ng\/mL) and PSS (0.43 \u00b1 0.060 ng\/mL) patients as compared to controls (0.38 \u00b1 0.059 ng\/mL). ADMA in RA vs. control was statistically significant (p = 0.022). However, no differences were seen in ADMA in PSS vs. controls. PWV and retinal microvasculature did not differ across the three groups. Conclusions: The prevalence of hypertension in our cohort was very high. Similarly, signs of endothelial dysfunction were seen in autoimmune rheumatic diseases. As hypertension and endothelial dysfunction are important contributing risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, the association of hypertension and endothelial dysfunction should be monitored closely in autoimmune diseases.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm10184067","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,9]],"date-time":"2021-09-09T12:20:37Z","timestamp":1631190037000},"page":"4067","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["A Pilot Study: Hypertension, Endothelial Dysfunction and Retinal Microvasculature in Rheumatic Autoimmune Diseases"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4939-0057","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ahmed","family":"Mahdy","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Physiology Division, Otto Loewi Center of Research in Vascular Biology, Immunity and Inflammation, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstra\u00dfe 6, 8010 Graz, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7884-6626","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martin","family":"Stradner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rheumatology and Immunology Department, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036 Graz, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andreas","family":"Roessler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physiology Division, Otto Loewi Center of Research in Vascular Biology, Immunity and Inflammation, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstra\u00dfe 6, 8010 Graz, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7308-5450","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bianca","family":"Brix","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physiology Division, Otto Loewi Center of Research in Vascular Biology, Immunity and Inflammation, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstra\u00dfe 6, 8010 Graz, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Angelika","family":"Lackner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rheumatology and Immunology Department, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036 Graz, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adam","family":"Salon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physiology Division, Otto Loewi Center of Research in Vascular Biology, Immunity and Inflammation, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstra\u00dfe 6, 8010 Graz, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6704-0723","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nandu","family":"Goswami","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physiology Division, Otto Loewi Center of Research in Vascular Biology, Immunity and Inflammation, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstra\u00dfe 6, 8010 Graz, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1380","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1972595","article-title":"Autoimmune diseases: The failure of self tolerance","volume":"248","author":"Sinha","year":"1990","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4611","DOI":"10.1007\/s00018-016-2311-1","article-title":"Environmental factors in autoimmune diseases and their role in multiple sclerosis","volume":"73","author":"Grohme","year":"2016","journal-title":"Cell. 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