Reduced flow-mediated dilation, as measured in this study, is an early indicator of cardiovascular disease.

Healthy, younger individuals can have flow-mediated dilation of up to 10 percent -- the average for the hospitalized group was 5 percent.

This measurement, called brachial artery flow-mediated dilation, was 15 percent lower in teenagers with the highest levels of cotinine, they found.

Of all the current tests employed in the research setting, flow-mediated dilation is the most widely used non-invasive test for assessing endothelial function.

The effect of oral antioxidants on brachial artery flow-mediated dilation following 5 and 10 min of ischemia.

Flow-mediated dilation improved significantly in participants on the low-fat diet suggesting a healthier artery which is less prone to developing atherosclerosis, the researchers said.

Neuman and his colleagues tested blood vessel function by measuring flow-mediated dilation (FMD).

However, again so has baseline artery size which happens to be part of the calculation of percentage flow-mediated dilation (%FMD).

Healthy flow-mediated dilation reflects sufficient production of nitric oxide, which is generated by the blood vessels' endothelial lining and causes them to relax.

Experts used ultrasound to test blood vessel function by measuring flow-mediated dilation (FMD) - a process dependent on nitric oxide.

They also measured the vascular response to each activity using flow-mediated dilation (FMD), which is a validated measure of vascular function and health in children.

Endothelium-dependent flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was measured at the level of the radial artery before and after ischemia (with or without postconditioning).

Flow-mediated dilation is an indicator of the health of the endothelial lining of the blood vessels and is a process that is dependent on nitric oxide.

Most of these studies on human participants have involved the percentage flow-mediated dilation (FMD%) index as the study outcome, which must have proper statistical consideration to be interpreted correctly.

However, the baseline artery size component of percentage flow-mediated dilation may also be just as prognostic and is easier to measure reliabily than flow-mediated dilation.

Nesto cited published findings of decreased flow-mediated dilation in diabetic patients who had normal LDL levels (J Amer Coll Cardiol 1996;28:573-9).

Recent evidence highly suggests that Nox2 generates ROS which contribute to reduce flow-mediated dilation (FMD) in patients with periphery artery disease (PAD).

A full copy of the research findings, Black tea consumption dose-dependently improved flow-mediated dilation in healthy males, will be published in The Journal of Hypertension in April 2009.

On average, chocolate eaters shaved a couple points from their blood pressure and showed a small improvement in "flow-mediated dilation" -- a measure of how well the blood vessels respond to increased blood flow.

However, the problem with this assertion in terms of the flow-mediated response indicator of endothelial dysfunction is that a morphological characteristic of atherosclerosis (baseline artery size) is inherent in the calculation of percentage flow-mediated dilation.

Olthof, M. R., Bots, M. L., Katan, M. B., and Verhoef, P. Effect of folic acid and betaine supplementation on flow-mediated dilation: a randomized, controlled study in healthy volunteers.

Salivary nitrite is then further chemically reduced in blood and tissue to nitric oxide resulting in the lowering of blood pressure, inhibition of platelet aggregation, increasing cerebral blood flow and flow-mediated dilation, and decreasing oxygen cost during exercise.