| dc.description.abstract | Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a chronic progressive narrowing of the arterial lumen due to atherosclerosis (fat, plaque deposition and hardening of arterial walls), which affects approximately 8 million lives in the United States. Patients diagnosed with PAD have increased risks of limb loss and mortality. The classic symptom of PAD is intermittent claudication (IC), defined as calf pain associated with increased metabolic demand on the muscle. Functional testing, such as the ankle brachial index (ABI), measured as the ratio of systolic blood pressure in the ankle to that in the arm, is the most common test for the diagnosis of PAD. The ABI can identify reduced blood flow (due to blockages in the arteries) based on blood pressure differences. However, there is a need to measure more than just abnormal blood flow, it is also critical to measure the effects of compromised blood flow on the skeletal muscle. In this study, we evaluate the hypothesis that differences in muscle elemental composition and biochemical alterations in the diseased tissue could be correlated with clinical diagnosis and may be used to characterize muscle damage severity. These findings may aid in the development of specialized preventive and rehabilitative treatment plans by providing new biological targets based on the specific stage of disease and muscle damage. This will also be a stepping stone toward the development of improved monitoring techniques of muscle damage repair following treatment intervention. | |
