aDepartment of Cardiothoracic, Vascular Medicine & Intensive Care, Unit of Cardiology, Dell’Angelo Hospital, Mestre-Venice

bDepartment of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Science and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

cLiverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Liverpool and Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital

dDepartment of Biochemistry and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

eDepartment of Cardiology, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, Milan, Italy

fPrimary Care and Mental Health

gDepartment of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

Correspondence to Riccardo Proietti, Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7TX, UK. E-mail: [email protected]

Abbreviations: AF, atrial fibrillation; AS, arterial stiffness; eNOS, endothelial nitric oxide synthase; LV, left ventricle; PWV, pulse wave velocity; VSMC, vascular small muscle cell

Received 30 January, 2022

Revised 11 April, 2022

Accepted 4 May, 2022