title: Association between arterial elasticity indices and coronary artery calcium in a healthy multi-ethnic cohort.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Reduced arterial elasticity is a risk factor for coronary artery disease. Our main objective was to evaluate the association between large arterial elasticity (LAE) and small arterial elasticity (SAE) with subclinical atherosclerosis as reflected by the coronary artery calcium score (CACS).
  
  
  METHODS
  The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) includes a multi-ethnic, population-based cohort (n = 6,814), aged 45-84 years, free from clinical cardiovascular disease. We undertook a post hoc analysis of the NHLBI limited access data set of MESA subjects (n = 6,278) to evaluate the association between LAE and SAE with CACS [divided in to 4 categories: none (reference), 1-99, 100-299, and ≥ 300] using multivariable adjusted logistic regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjustments for age, sex, systolic blood pressure, anti-hypertensive medications use, race, smoking, diabetes, high-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, both LAE [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.65; 95% CI 0.49-0.87 for CACS ≥ 300] and SAE (aOR 0.68, 95% CI 0.56-0.83 for CACS ≥ 300) were significantly (p < 0.001 for both) associated with a higher CACS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both LAE and SAE, independent of traditional risk factors and inflammation, are associated with subclinical coronary atherosclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 84201, USA.
authors.forename: Sidakpal S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Panaich
authors.forename: Sandip K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Zalawadiya
authors.forename: Vikas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Veeranna
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Afonso
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004548:Elasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium