The carotid-femoral (aortic) pulse wave velocity as a marker of arterial stiffness in familial Mediterranean fever.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that chronic inflammation impairs vascular function and leads to an arterial pulse wave velocity (PWV) increase in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF).


METHODS
Twenty-three patients (17 women) with FMF, and 23 age- and sex-matched controls were recruited. Aortic PWV was determined by using an automatic device (Complior Colson, Createch Industrie, France) that allowed on-line pulse wave recording and automatic calculation of the PWV.


RESULTS
The PWV was slightly higher in patients with FMF than in control subjects (P=0.05). A significant correlation between PWV and age (P<0.001, r=0.67), body mass index (P<0.001, r=0.52) and leukocytes (P<0.001, r=0.66) was found in both groups combined and also in patients with FMF (P<0.001, r=0.73; P=0.01, r=0.52; P<0.001, r=0.69, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
The PWV was slightly higher in patients with FMF compared with control subjects. Colchicine, an anti-inflammatory drug treatment, may have reduced the expected increased level of PWV in FMF patients. PWV is influenced by age, body mass index and leukocytes.
Yildiz
Mustafa
M
Sakarya University School of Health, Sakarya, Turkey. mustafayilldiz@yahoo.com
Masatlioglu
Seval
S
Seymen
Pinar
P
Aytac
Erman
E
Sahin
Banu
B
Seymen
H Oktay
HO
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001011:Aorta / Q000503:physiopathology; D001158:Arteries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D010505:Familial Mediterranean Fever / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000503:physiopathology; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes; D008297:Male; D011673:Pulsatile Flow; D014655:Vascular Resistance
D015415:Biomarkers