Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD) has a major morbidity and mortality in the general population. The spectrum of PVD ranges from intermittent claudication to critical limb ischaemia. There is a high prevalence of intermittent claudication in the general population, however only five to ten percent will progress to more severe disease. The progression of disease is at present unpredictable.

There is a growing awareness that patients with intermittent claudication may have differing propensities for developing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
This study aims to investigate the relationship between the endothelial response to exercise in the macro and microcirculation and correlate this with plasma inflammatory cytokine levels, plasma oxidative state and a marker of acute kidney injury in patients with peripheral vascular disease and healthy controls.
This information may lead to a new screening test for patients with an increased risk of disease progression who once identified could be better managed to reduce their risk. Furthermore potential new cytokine targets for halting disease progression and potential treatment will be investigated.