DEVELOPMENT OF A VASCULAR REHABILITATION METHOD BASED ON REAL-TIME MEASUREMENT OF PLASMA NITRIC OXIDE CONCENTRATION

缺血性心脏病和脑血管功能不全(日本人的主要死亡原因)是由于动脉粥样硬化的发展而导致的血管功能障碍，因此开发针对这类血管疾病的血管康复方法和预防方法具有重要意义。一氧化氮(NO)是血管内皮细胞根据血流变化而合成的一种物质，具有扩张血管(控制血压和血流)、抗动脉粥样硬化等多种生理功能。在这项研究中，我们的目的是：1)阐述体内血流中NO浓度的实时测量，以及血压和血流速度的实时测量；2)建立血管康复的定量分析方法。我们不仅成功地开发了一种测量技术，而且还证实了该技术在定量分析i)代谢综合征受试者的血管功能和ii)其他生物功能方面的适用性。

The patients with ischemic heart diseases and cerebrovascular dysfunctions (major causes of death of the Japanese) suffer from vascular dysfunctions due to atherosclerotic development, and thus it is important to develop vascular rehabilitation methods as well as preventative methods for such vascular diseases. Nitric oxide (NO) is synthesized from endothelial cells in response to changes in blood flow and exerts various physiological functions such as vascular dilatation (controlling blood pressure and blood flow) and anti-atherosclerosis. In this study, we aimed at i) elaborating simultaneous measurement of in vivo NO concentration in the blood stream together with blood pressure and blood flow velocity on a real-time basis and ii) developing a quantitative analytical method for vascular rehabilitation. We were successful not only in developing a measurement technique but also in confirming the applicability of this technique to a quantitative analysis of i) vascular functions of the subjects with metabolic syndrome and ii) other biological functions.