Serum carboxymethyl-lysine, an advanced glycation end product, is associated with arterial stiffness in older adults.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study is to examine the relationship of serum carboxymethyl-lysine (CML), an advanced glycation end product (AGE), with pulse pressure (PP), aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) and hypertension in older adults.


BACKGROUND
AGEs are bioactive molecules that accumulate in tissues with ageing and can both cross-link collagen and induce inflammation in model systems. The relationship of AGEs with arterial stiffness and hypertension has not been well characterized in community-dwelling older adults.


METHODS
We measured serum CML and blood pressure in 3044 adults, aged 70-79 years, who participated in the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study, a population-based study of ageing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Memphis, Tennessee. aPWV was measured in 2468 participants.


RESULTS
Participants in the highest tertile of serum CML had higher PP (highest tertile: beta = 2.85, SE = 0.82, P = 0.0005; middle tertile: beta = 0.60, SE = 0.80, P = 0.45), and higher aPWV (highest tertile: beta = 51.4, SE = 20.1, P = 0.01; middle tertile: beta = 3.2, SE = 19.8, P = 0.87) than those in the lowest tertile in multivariable linear regression models adjusting for age, sex, race, education, BMI, smoking, alcohol use, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease. Participants in the highest and middle tertiles of serum CML had higher odds of hypertension [odds ratio (OR) 1.32, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.06-1.60, P = 0.005; OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.05-1.53, P = 0.01, respectively] than those in the lowest tertile in a multivariable logistic regression model adjusting for the same covariates.


CONCLUSIONS
Elevated serum CML was associated with arterial stiffness, as reflected by higher PP and aPWV, in older, community-dwelling adults.
aDepartment of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland bDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California cDivision of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore dLaboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland eDepartment of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee fNational Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland gDepartment of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Richard D
RD
Semba
Kai
K
Sun
Ann V
AV
Schwartz
Ravi
R
Varadhan
Tamara B
TB
Harris
Suzanne
S
Satterfield
Melissa
M
Garcia
Luigi
L
Ferrucci
Anne B
AB
Newman
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001011:Aorta / Q000502:physiology; D001823:Body Composition; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D017127:Glycation End Products, Advanced / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood*; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood; D016014:Linear Models; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL / Q000097:blood; D016015:Logistic Models; D008239:Lysine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood; D059289:Vascular Stiffness
D017127:Glycation End Products, Advanced; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL; C048496:N(6)-carboxymethyllysine; D008239:Lysine