ABC | Volume 113, Nº6, December 2019

Short Editorial Bortolotto Orthostasis and arterial function Arq Bras Cardiol. 2019; 113(6):1082-1083 1. Bortolotto LA, Safar ME. [Blood pressure profile along the arterial tree and genetics of hypertension]. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2006;86(3):166-9. 2. Bortolotto LA, Sousa MG, Costa-Hong V. Comprometimento de Órgãos- Alvo: Vasos. Hipertensão Arterial - Bases Fisiopatológicas e Prática Clínica. São Paulo: Atheneu; 2013. p. 359-76. 3. Elias Neto J, Ferreira A, Futuro G, Santos LC, Heringer Filho N, Gomes F, et al. Influences on the functional behavior of great arteries during orthostasis. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2019; 113(6):1072-1081. 4. Vlachopoulos C, Aznaouridis K, Stefanadis C. Prediction of cardiovascular events and all-causemortality with arterial stiffness: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010;55(13):1318-27. 5. SchroederEC,RosenbergAJ,HilgenkampTIM,WhiteDW,BaynardT,Fernhall B. Effect of upper body position on arterial stiffness: influence of hydrostatic pressure and autonomic function. J Hypertens. 2017;35(12):2454-61. 6. Lakatta EG. Cardiovascular regulatorymechanisms in advanced age. Physiol Rev. 1993;73(2):413-67. 7. Alghatrif M, Lakatta EG. The conundrumof arterial stiffness, elevated blood pressure, and aging. Curr Hypertens Rep. 2015;17(2):12. 8. Saladini F, Palatini P. Isolated Systolic Hypertension in Young Individuals: Pathophysiological Mechanisms, Prognostic Significance, and Clinical Implications. High Blood Press Cardiovasc Prev. 2017;24(2):133-9. 9. Tuday EC, Meck JV, Nyhan D, Shoukas AA, Berkowitz DE. Microgravity- induced changes in aortic stiffness and their role in orthostatic intolerance. J Appl Physiol. 1985;102():853-8. 10. Hughson RL, Robertson AD, Arbeille P, Shoemaker JK, Rush JW, Fraser KS, Greaves DK. Increased postflight carotid artery stiffness and inflight insulin resistance resulting from 6-mo spaceflight in male and female astronauts. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2016;310(5):H628-38. 11. Costa-Hong VA, Muela HCS, Macedo TA, Sales ARK, Bortolotto LA. Gender differences of aortic wave reflection and influence of menopause on central blood pressure in patients with arterial hypertension. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 2018;18(1):123. References This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License since it has not been directly evaluated. Another limitation not mentioned by the authors, but which may show differences in result interpretation, is the predominance of males in the studied population. It is well known that women have higher measures of arterial stiffness, especially earlier reflection waves, probably associated with smaller aortic diameter. 11 These changes could interfere with the response of PWV to orthostasis in different genders, as seen in a small study with astronauts who remained 6 months without gravity, with women showing greater degrees of carotid stiffness than men after returning to the effect of gravity. 10 Nevertheless, these findings provide important parameters for discussing the participation of large-vessel buffering properties in physiological adaptations to postural changes, which may provide new therapeutic strategies for clinical conditions where these adaptations are inadequate. 1083