Is Arterial Stiffness Related to Body Height?

Liu, Yan-Ping; Richart, Tom; Li, Yan; Zhan, Weiwei; Staessen, Jan A.

doi:10.1161/hypertensionaha.110.152553

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Heart rate was forced into the model for clinical coherence, despite a nonsignificant P value in the univariate analysis. 21 During the backward elimination procedure, independent variables were removed in the following order: HDL, LDL, current smoker, estimated glomerular filtration rate, cholesterol lowering drugs, sex, BP lowering drugs, and finally height (Table S3). Heart rate remained significant in each step of the procedure.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inactive Matrix Gla-Protein Is Associated With Arterial Stiffness in an Adult Population–Based Study

et al. 2015

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Increased pulse wave velocity (PWV) is the gold standard in assessing stiffening of the aorta.1 As shown by 3 population studies, all including over thousand participants, PWV refines risk stratification above and beyond traditional cardiovascular risk factors. In multivariable-adjusted analyses, per one standard deviation (SD) increment in PWV, cardiovascular mortality increased by 20% and 60% in a Danish and Taiwanese population samples, respectively.2,3 The Framingham heart study found that one standard deviation increment of PWV was associated with a 48% increase in cardiovascular disease risk. 4 Matrix Gla-protein (MGP) is acting as a strong inhibitor of soft tissue calcification. 5,6 MGP knockout mice develop massive vascular calcification in their first weeks of life and die within 2 months of vessels rupture.7 MGP is expressed primarily by chondrocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells. 8,9 To acquire its full calcification inhibitory activity, MGP needs to undergo 2 post-translational modifications: glutamate carboxylation and serine phosphorylation. Both modifications are not exerted completely, so theoretically, 4 different MGP conformations can be found: unmodified and Abstract-Increased pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a marker of aortic stiffness and an independent predictor of mortality.Matrix Gla-protein (MGP) is a vascular calcification inhibitor that needs vitamin K to be activated. Inactive MGP, known as desphospho-uncarboxylated MGP (dp-ucMGP), can be measured in plasma and has been associated with various cardiovascular markers, cardiovascular outcomes, and mortality. In this study, we hypothesized that high levels of dp-ucMGP are associated with increased PWV. We recruited participants via a multicenter family-based crosssectional study in Switzerland. Dp-ucMGP was quantified in plasma by sandwich ELISA. Aortic PWV was determined by applanation tonometry using carotid and femoral pulse waveforms. Multiple regression analysis was performed to estimate associations between PWV and dp-ucMGP adjusting for age, renal function, and other cardiovascular risk factors. We included 1001 participants in our analyses (475 men and 526 women). Mean values were 7.87±2.10 m/s for PWV and 0.43±0.20 nmol/L for dp-ucMGP. PWV was positively associated with dp-ucMGP both before and after adjustment for sex, age, body mass index, height, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), heart rate, renal function, low-and high-density lipoprotein, glucose, smoking status, diabetes mellitus, BP and cholesterol lowering drugs, and history of cardiovascular disease (P≤0.01). In conclusion, high levels of dp-ucMGP are independently and positively associated with arterial stiffness after adjustment for common cardiovascular risk factors, renal function, and age. inactive as desphospho-uncarboxylated MGP (dp-ucMGP), only phosphorylated, only carboxylated, and finally fully modified and active as phosphorylated and carboxylated MGP. 10,11 Carboxylation of MGP is a vitamin K-dependent process: vitamin K hydroquinone, a vitamin K m...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inactive Matrix Gla-Protein Is Associated With Arterial Stiffness in an Adult Population–Based Study

et al. 2015

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“…4 ). In addition, because vascular length was automatically calculated according to the participant' height, the CAVI may be affected by height as well as by baPWV [30] . We thus removed the influence of height on the results using ANCOVA and multiple regression analysis [32] .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex Differences in Flexibility-Arterial Stiffness Relationship and Its Application for Diagnosis of Arterial Stiffening: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study

et al. 2014

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PurposeArterial stiffness might be related to trunk flexibility in middle-aged and older participants, but it is also affected by age, sex, and blood pressure. This cross-sectional observational study investigated whether trunk flexibility is related to arterial stiffness after considering the major confounding factors of age, sex, and blood pressure. We further investigated whether a simple diagnostic test of flexibility could be helpful to screen for increased arterial stiffening.MethodsAccording to age and sex, we assigned 1150 adults (male, n = 536; female, n = 614; age, 18–89 y) to groups with either high- or poor-flexibility based on the sit-and-reach test. Arterial stiffness was assessed by cardio-ankle vascular index.ResultsIn all categories of men and in older women, arterial stiffness was higher in poor-flexibility than in high-flexibility (P<0.05). This difference remained significant after normalizing arterial stiffness for confounding factors such as blood pressure, but it was not found among young and middle-aged women. Stepwise multiple-regression analysis also supported the notion of the sex differences in flexibility-arterial stiffness relationship. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that cut-off values for sit-and-reach among men and women were 33.2 (area under the curve [AUC], 0.711; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.666–0.756; sensitivity, 61.7%; specificity, 69.7%) and 39.2 (AUC, 0.639; 95% CI, 0.592–0.686; sensitivity, 61.1%; specificity, 62.0%) cm, respectively.ConclusionOur results indicate that flexibility-arterial stiffness relationship is not affected by BP, which is a major confounding factor. In addition, sex differences are observed in this relationship; poor trunk flexibility increases arterial stiffness in young, middle-aged, and older men, whereas the relationship in women is found only in the elderly. Also, the sit-and-reach test can offer a simple method of predicting arterial stiffness at home or elsewhere.

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“…Further studies are needed to prove this hypothesis. Some investigators also recognized the inverse association between PWV and height, which Liu et al [ 28 ] claimed was spurious because the formula used to determine the travel distance of pulse wave is essentially height-dependent and, thus, inadequate. They suggested that PWV should be standardized to height, which seems reasonable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short stature is associated with higher pulse wave velocity in subjects without overt cardiovascular disease

Moon¹,

Hwang

Han³

2020

Medicine

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Short stature is reportedly associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the mechanism underlying this intriguing epidemiological finding is unclear. Pulse wave velocity (PWV), a marker of vascular stiffness, is a predictor of future CVD. Therefore, PWV may be affected by height even before overt CVD occurs. Here, we investigated the association between adult height and PWV in subjects without overt CVD. A total of 1019 subjects (48 ± 12 years old; 509 men, 21 with diabetes mellitus, 209 with hypertension) without overt CVD were enrolled, all of whom underwent brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV) measurements. The subjects were divided into 3 groups by height. A multiple regression model was used to estimate baPWV values among heights after the adjustment for confounders. Mean baPWV value was highest in the group with the shortest height for both sexes (both P < .001). Bivariate correlation analysis between height and baPWV showed significant correlations in men (r = –0.131, P = .003) and women (r = –0.180, P < .001). In the multiple regression analysis with adjustment for identified confounders, group height was a predictor of baPWV ( P for trend = .003) in younger men (<50 years old) but not in older men, while group height was correlated with baPWV in older women (≥50 years old, P for trend = .014) but not in younger women. Height is inversely correlated with baPWV in subjects without overt CVD, especially in younger men and older women. This may explain the historical epidemiological observation of an inverse relationship between height and CVD.

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Is Arterial Stiffness Related to Body Height?

Cited by 9 publications

References 10 publications

Inactive Matrix Gla-Protein Is Associated With Arterial Stiffness in an Adult Population–Based Study

Inactive Matrix Gla-Protein Is Associated With Arterial Stiffness in an Adult Population–Based Study

Sex Differences in Flexibility-Arterial Stiffness Relationship and Its Application for Diagnosis of Arterial Stiffening: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study

Short stature is associated with higher pulse wave velocity in subjects without overt cardiovascular disease

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