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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 28, 2015; 21(40): 11304-11311
Published online Oct 28, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i40.11304
Arterial structure and function in inflammatory bowel disease
Luca Zanoli, Stefania Rastelli, Gaetano Inserra, Pietro Castellino
Luca Zanoli, Stefania Rastelli, Gaetano Inserra, Pietro Castellino, Department of Internal Medicine, Policlinico Universitario, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Author contributions: Zanoli L, Rastelli S, Inserra G and Castellino P contributed equally to this work and wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to report.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Luca Zanoli, MD, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine, Policlinico Universitario, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, Italy. zanoli.rastelli@gmail.com
Telephone: +39-95-3782736 Fax: +39-95-3782376
Received: March 30, 2015
Peer-review started: March 31, 2015
First decision: May 18, 2015
Revised: May 30, 2015
Accepted: September 2, 2015
Article in press: September 2, 2015
Published online: October 28, 2015
Core Tip

Core tip: The prevalence of classic cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, dyslipidaemia, diabetes and hypertension, is lower among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) than in the general population. However, the risk of coronary heart disease is increased in IBD patients. Chronic inflammation may explain the difference between expected and observed cardiovascular risk. Arterial stiffness, a marker of subclinical target organ damage and a cardiovascular risk factor, is increased in chronic inflammatory disorders. In this review, we discuss the evidence pertaining to arterial structure and function and present the available data regarding arterial stiffness and endothelial function in patients with IBD.