title: Carotid pulse wave velocity by magnetic resonance imaging is increased in middle-aged subjects with the metabolic syndrome.
abstract: Arterial pulse wave velocity (PWV), an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease, physiologically increases with age; however, growing evidence suggests metabolic syndrome (MetS) accelerates this increase. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enables reliable noninvasive assessment of arterial stiffness by measuring arterial PWV in specific vascular segments. We investigated the association between the presence of MetS and its components with carotid PWV (cPWV) in asymptomatic subjects without diabetes. We assessed cPWV by MRI in 61 individuals (mean age, 55.3 ± 14.1 years; median age, 55 years): 30 with MetS and 31 controls with similar age, sex, body mass index, and LDL-cholesterol levels. The study population was dichotomized by the median age. To remove the physiological association between PWV and age, unpaired t tests and multiple regression analyses were performed using the residuals of the regression between PWV and age. cPWV was higher in middle-aged subjects with MetS than in those without (p = 0.001), but no differences were found in elder subjects (p = 0.313). cPWV was associated with diastolic blood pressure (r = 0.276, p = 0.033) and waist circumference (r = 0.268, p = 0.038). The presence of MetS was associated with increased cPWV regardless of age, sex, blood pressure, and waist (p = 0.007). The MetS components contributing independently to an increased cPWV were hypertension (p = 0.018) and hypertriglyceridemia (p = 0.002). The presence of MetS is associated with an increased cPWV in middle-aged subjects. In particular, hypertension and hypertriglyceridemia may contribute to early progression of carotid stiffness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Girona Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBGI) - Diagnostic Imaging Institute (IDI), Hospital of Girona "Dr Josep Trueta", Av de França s/n, 17007, Girona, Spain, gblasco@idibgi.org.
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Blasco
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Balocco
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Puig
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sánchez-González
authors.forename: Wifredo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ricart
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Daunis-i-Estadella
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pedraza
authors.forename: José Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Fernández-Real
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D059289:Vascular Stiffness