Background
Recently, the concept of healthy vascular aging (HVA) and early vascular aging (EVA) phenotypes was proposed.
Purpose
We examined following issues; constancy of the vascular phenotypes over time; validity of assuming that constancy of the vascular phenotypes reflects the progression rate of structural arterial stiffening; and associations of vascular phenotype constancy with cardiovascular risk factors/their treatment, and the heart rate (HR).
Methods
Data on the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) measured annually over a 16-year period in 4682 middle-aged Japanese employees were analyzed.
Results
Of all subjects, 30% showed constancy of the vascular phenotype during the study period. The estimated marginal mean of baPWV values and the slope of the annual increase of the baPWV were higher in the constant EVA group (EVA-EVA) than in the constant HVA group (HVA-HVA) (Figure 1). Elevated serum HbA1c levels, medication for hypertension, and high HR were significantly associated with constancy of the EVA phenotype, whereas a low HR was significantly associated with constancy of the HVA phenotype.
Conclusions
In middle-aged Japanese employees with the HVA/EVA phenotype at the study baseline, while the phenotype changed over time in most subjects, HVA/EVA phenotype constancy in the remaining subjects reliably reflected a low/high rate of progression of structural arterial stiffening. Hypertension and abnormal glucose metabolism were associated with constancy of the EVA phenotype, but treatment for these conditions failed to improve the phenotype. Low/high HR was a robust marker of the presence/constancy of the HVA/EVA phenotype.
Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding sources: Private grant(s) and/or Sponsorship. Main funding source(s): Omron Health CareTeijin Pharma
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.