ELN and endothelial dysfunction: Since vessel stiffness may involve matrix protein abundance on the vessel wall (especially collagen, elastin and fibrillin), reduction of elastic fibers, endothelial dysfunction or alterations on glucose metabolism (Moraes-Teixeira Jde et al., 2010; Araujo et al., 2020; Fabricio et al., 2020; Tardelli et al., 2021), we showed that DEX treatment increases PWV in Wistar rats, mainly through an increase in the deposition of aortic collagen (Tardelli et al., 2021).