Hypohydration and Vascular Atherosclerosis

Abstract

Background and objectivesIt has been hypothesized that chronic hypohydration may be associated with vascular stiffness and atherosclerosis mainly driven by increased arginine‐vasopressin, aldosterone, and angiotensin II, however, no study has addressed the issue in humans.MethodsDuring 2011‐2012, 433 men and women (age: 54±10 y, 227; 52% men) were voluntarily enrolled from the general population. Socio‐demographic factors, medical history, physical activity (international physical activity questionnaire) and smoking, were recorded through a face‐to‐face interview. Participants also provided first morning urine sample, analyzed for urine osmolality (Uosm) and completed a validated food frequency questionnaire.Carotid artery Intimal‐Medial‐Thickness (IMT) through ultrasound was also measured by trained cardiologists.ResultsMean IMT was found 0.83±0.32 mm, urine osmolality was: 642±230 mmol/kg and total fluid Intake from beverages was 2,544±884 mL.Multivariable linear regression analysis revealed an independent association between urine osmolality and IMT (B‐coef: 0.0009 and p=0.009), after adjusting for several confounding variables such as age, sex, BMI,fluid intake (from beverages), smoking habits and family history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia. The aforementioned model explained 61.6% of IMT's variability while model's significance was p= 0.06.ConclusionsThe data indicated that hydration status is associated with atherosclerosis.