title: Effects of aging and persistent prehypertension on arterial stiffening.
abstract: An age-related association of blood pressure in the non-hypertensive range (non-hypertensive blood pressure) to the cardiovascular mortality has been demonstrated. This prospective study was conducted to examine the effects of age, persistence of pre-hypertension (preHYP) during the study period, and the interaction between these factors on the rate of progression of arterial stiffening. Among 1563 healthy Japanese subjects without hypertension (age range: 29-95 years), the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) was measured twice (i.e., at baseline and 5-6 years later). The adjusted (including for blood pressure) value of the annual rate of increase of the baPWV during the study period (delPWV) increased in a linear manner along with the age category (categorized into 29-39 years, 40-59 years, and 60 years or older for this study) and the evolutional category of non-hypertensive blood pressure during the study period (categorized into persistence of normal blood pressure, borderline evolution, and persistence of preHYP), and a significant interaction between the two in relation to the delPWV was also noted (non-standardization coefficient=5.08 [95% confidence interval=3.24-6.92], F-value=29.40, P<0.01). In conclusion, the present study suggests that persistence of preHYP is associated with accelerated structural stiffening of the large- to middle-sized arteries, and that age may exert a synergistic effect on this acceleration of arterial stiffening. Thus, persistence of preHYP also appears, like hypertension, to be associated with progressive vascular damage, and this progression may be more pronounced in middle-aged and elderly subjects.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo 160-0023, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tomiyama
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Chisa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Odaira
authors.forename: Masanobu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Kazuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shiina
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagata
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamashina
authors.forename: Nobutaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Doba
authors.forename: Shigeaki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hinohara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D001158:Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058246:Prehypertension / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059289:Vascular Stiffness