title: Circulating CD34-Positive Cells Are Associated with Handgrip Strength in Japanese Older Men: The Nagasaki Islands Study.
abstract: Handgrip strength is a simple measurement of overall muscular strength and is used to detect sarcopenia. It also predicts adverse events in later life. Many mechanisms of sarcopenia development have been reported. A hypertensive status impairs endothelial dysfunction, which might deteriorate skeletal muscle if vascular angiogenesis is not maintained.
  
  
  
  This study investigated muscle strength and circulating CD34-positive cells as a marker of vascular angiogenesis.
  
  
  
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  
  262 male Japanese community dwellers aged 60 to 69 years.
  
  
  
  The participants' handgrip strength, medical history, and blood samples were taken. We stratified the participants by hypertensive status to investigate the association between handgrip strength and circulating CD34-positive cells according to hypertensive status. Pearson correlation and linear regression analyses were used.
  
  
  
  In the Pearson correlation analysis, handgrip strength and the logarithm of circulating CD34-positive cells were significantly associated in hypertensive participants (r=0.22, p=0.021), but not in non-hypertensive participants (r=-0.01, p=0.943). This relationship was only significant in hypertensive participants (ß=1.94, p=0.021) in the simple linear regression analysis, and it remained significant after adjusting for classic cardiovascular risk factors (ß=1.92, p=0.020). The relationship was not significant in non-hypertensive participants (ß=-0.09, p=0.903).
  
  
  
  We found a positive association between handgrip strength and circulating CD34-positive cells in hypertensive men. Vascular maintenance attributed by circulating CD34-positive cells is thought to be a background mechanism of this association after hypertension-induced vascular injury in skeletal muscle.
authors.affiliation: Hirotomo Yamanashi, MD, Department of Island and Community Medicine, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Goto, Nagasaki 853-8691, Japan, E-mail: yamanashi@nagasaki-u.ac.jp, Tel: +81-959-74-2673, Fax: +81-959-74-2635.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamanashi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koyamatsu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagayoshi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kadota
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamai
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maeda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D018952:Antigens, CD34 / Q000032:analysis*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053580:Muscle Strength; D053581:Muscle Strength Dynamometer; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D018952:Antigens, CD34
keywords: CD34-positive cells; Japanese; Sarcopenia; handgrip strength; hypertension