Age and sex-specific relationships between blood pressure variability and carotid intima-media thickness

Abstract

This study evaluated the association between carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and 24 h ambulatory blood pressure variability (BPV) in 150 subjects. The subjects were divided into different age groups and gender groups. We found that for the subjects aged less than 45 years, 24 h and daytime diastolic BPV were associated with the increased IMT (r = 0.525, P = 0.018; r = 0.507, P = 0.022). For the middle aged people (46-55 years), daytime (r = 0.377, P = 0.014) and 24 h systolic BPV (r = 0.366, P = 0.017) were more related to the increases in IMT than 24 h diastolic BPV (r = 0.320, P = 0.039). However, no association between carotid IMT and BPV was found in the elderly (>55 years). In addition, the relationships between carotid IMT and BPV were more obvious in males than females. 24 h systolic BPV (P = 0.008) is the independent factor to evaluate the increased carotid IMT for males, but not for females. The findings in our study indicated that age and sex had influences on progression of carotid IMT. We conclude that the relationship between carotid IMT and ambulatory BPV can be modified by age and sex, thus, the regression model using BPV to evaluate the arteriosclerotic progression should take age and sex into account.

Association Between Waist Circumference and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in the General Population

“…Various preceding studies examined the possible gender difference in the association between metabolic risk factors and IMT. [27][28][29][30][31][32] This point is still under debate and is clinically important for the risk assessment of the general population from the perspective of preventive cardiology. Further study is required to clarify the significance of WC for the prediction of preclinical atherosclerosis in women.…”

Gender Difference of the Relationship between Arterial Stiffness and Blood Pressure Variability in Participants in Prehypertension

“…Our findings were also supported by some cross-sectional studies and longitudinal studies. Part of studies suggested that BPV was associated with carotid atherosclerosis [22], stroke [23, 24], and vascular events [25]. A 10-year follow-up study showed that higher long-term SBP variability may be a risk factor for arterial stiffness progression independent of mean BP, as a result of that, higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) variability may reduce bioavailability of nitric oxide and increase vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation [26].…”

“…And a United Kingdom study of more than 20,000 large-scale population studies with a follow-up of 29 years showed a brief higher reading of diastolic blood pressure (indicating higher blood pressure variability), cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality were closely related only to women, not men [19]. However, a recent study showed that 24 h SBPV was an independent factor in assessing carotid IMT in male, but not in female [22]. The pathophysiologic mechanisms were poorly defined, although many hypotheses were proposed with the hormonal component being the prevailing [29].…”

The impact of blood pressure variability on cognition: current limitations and new advances

“…Cerebral arterial remodeling disrupted hemodynamics and caused hypoperfusion, leading to increased production and decreased clearance of amyloid-beta [ 91 ]. The relationships between IMT and 24-h SBPV were more evident in male than female participants, indicating that 24-h ARV of SBPV was the independent factor for increased carotid IMT in males but not in females [ 92 ]. However, in another larger clinical study of 957 healthy individuals, 24-h weighted SD of BPV is related to arterial stiffness in middle-aged and older adults and more correlated in females [ 93 ].…”