The influence of obesity and metabolic risk variables on brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity in healthy adolescents

Abstract

Measurement of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) is recognized as a simple and practical method for assessing arterial stiffness. We determined whether the baPWV of adolescents is affected by obesity and its associated metabolic risk variables. A cross-sectional sample of 754 apparently healthy adolescents (383 men and 371 women), aged 15-17 years, was recruited for this study. baPWV was measured by a simple automatic oscillometric technique. Adiposity measures, blood pressure, serum lipoproteins, fasting glucose and insulin were evaluated. The baPWV of the adolescents was significantly higher in men than in women and increased with age in both genders. After being statistically adjusted for age and gender, baPWV was significantly correlated with body mass index, percent body fat, waistto-height ratio, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, mean arterial pressure, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), atherogenic index, glucose, insulin, and homoeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). In the multivariate regression analysis, mean arterial pressure, atherogenic index, HOMA-IR, systolic blood pressure and age were found to be significant determinants of baPWV (Po0.001). An increasing number of clustered risk variables, including high values (4gender-specific top quartiles) of waist-toheight ratio, mean arterial pressure, atherogenic index and HOMA-IR showed a graded association with baPWV (Po0.001 for trend). These results suggest that obesity and its associated metabolic abnormalities are important factors in the increased baPWV of adolescents and that baPWV may be useful in investigating early arterial wall changes in this population.

Brachial‐ankle pulse wave velocity and cardiovascular risk factors in the non‐diabetic and newly diagnosed diabetic Chinese: Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study‐CVD

“…Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) is a mixed measurement of arterial stiffness in large and medium to small size arteries [2,3], and there have been some recent reports on baPWV and metabolic risk factors in healthy adolescents [4] and diabetic patients [5]. However, previous studies have not examined the association between baPWV and cardiovascular risk factors, especially glycosylated haemoglobin A1c (HbA 1c ), in older Chinese populations with or without diabetes.…”

The effect of smoking on arterial stiffness

“…[4][5][6] Furthermore, a number of factors and conditions, such as alcohol consumption, dyslipidemia, hypertension, renal dysfunction, obesity and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease cause changes in arterial stiffness. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] These effects may interact with the effects of smoking to alter arterial stiffness and cardiovascular risk profiles.…”

Cardiometabolic Determinants of Carotid and Aortic Distensibility From Childhood to Early Adulthood

“…13 Similar to our findings, HOMA-IR was found to be an independent determinant of arterial stiffness measured with brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity in a cross-sectional sample of Japanese adolescents. 31 Also, in adolescents aged 13 to 15 years, HOMA-IR showed an inverse association with brachial distensibility while at earlier ages, the association was not observed. 21 In the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, higher childhood insulin concentrations predicted lower cdist in adulthood.…”