title: Relationship between arterial stiffness and myocardial damage in patients with newly diagnosed essential hypertension.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Arterial stiffness increases in hypertensive individuals. Arterial stiffness is associated with impairment of systolic and diastolic myocardial function in hypertension (HT). However, the relationship between arterial stiffness and serum heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) levels, a sensitive marker of myocardial damage, has not been previously examined in patients with HT. We investigate the relationship between serum H-FABP levels and arterial stiffness in patients with newly diagnosed HT.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 46 (48.5 +/- 10.6, years) never-treated patients with HT and age-matched control group of 40 (47 +/- 8.6, years) normotensive individuals. H-FABP levels were determined in all subjects. We evaluated arterial stiffness and wave reflections of study population, using applanation tonometry (Sphygmocor). Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) was measured as indices of elastic-type, aortic stiffness. The heart rate-corrected augmentation index (AIx@75) was estimated as a marker of wave reflections.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Carotid-femoral PWV (10.5 +/- 2.2 vs. 8.7 +/- 1.6, m/s, P = 0.0001) and AIx@75 (22.7 +/- 9.5 vs. 15 +/- 11, %, P = 0.001) were significantly higher in patients with HT than control group. H-FABP levels were increased in hypertensive patients compared with control group (21.1 +/- 14.8 vs. 12.9 +/- 8.5, ng/ml, P = 0.002). In multiple linear regression analysis, we found that the body mass index (beta = 0.42, P = 0.0001) and carotid-femoral PWV (beta = 0.23, P = 0.03) were significant determinants of H-FABP levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Arterial stiffness is associated with serum H-FABP levels, a sensitive marker of myocardial damage, in patients with newly diagnosed HT.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey. omergedikli@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gedikli
authors.forename: Serkan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.forename: Hulya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: Merih
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baykan
authors.forename: Abdulkadir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kiris
authors.forename: Ismet
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Durmus
authors.forename: Davut
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baltaci
authors.forename: Caner
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Karahan
authors.forename: Sukru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Celik
mesh_terms: D001158:Arteries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003187:Compliance / Q000502:physiology; D000074026:Fatty Acid Binding Protein 3; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008365:Manometry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: C493408:FABP3 protein, human; D000074026:Fatty Acid Binding Protein 3; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins