Background The primary aim of the present study was to determine the cumulative effect of a set of peripheral artery disease (PAD) risk factors among age, gender and race/ethnicity groups in the United States. Methods We examined data from a nationally representative sample of the US population (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [NHANES], 1999–2004). A total of 7058 subjects 40 years or older that completed the interview, medical examination and had ankle–brachial index (ABI) measurements were included in this study. Results The age- and sex-standardized prevalence of PAD was 4.6 % (standard error [SE] 0.3%).The highest prevalence of PAD was observed among elderly, non-Hispanic Blacks and women. In a multivariable age-, gender- and race/ethnicity-adjusted model hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and smoking were retained as PAD risk factors (p ≤ 0.05 for each). The odds of PAD increased with each additional risk factor present from a non-significant 1.5-fold increase (O.R 1.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.9–2.6) in the presence of one risk factor, to more than ten-fold (OR 10.2, 95% CI 6.4–16.3) in the presence of three or more risk factors. In stratified analysis, non-Hispanic Blacks (OR 14.7, 95% CI 2.1–104.1) and women (OR 18.6, 95% CI 7.1–48.7) were particularly sensitive to this cumulative effect. Conclusion In a large nationally representative sample, an aggregate set of risk factors that included diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, hypertension and smoking significantly increase the likelihood of prevalent PAD. A cumulative risk factor analysis highlights important susceptibility differences among different population groups and provides additional evidence to redefine screening strategies in PAD.

Objectives We sought to determine whether mean platelet volume (MPV) is associated with the prevalence of peripheral artery disease (PAD). Background Platelets play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and PAD. MPV, a measure of platelet size available in every blood count, is increasingly recognized as an important marker of platelet activity. Methods We analyzed data from 6354 participants aged 40 years and older from the 1999 to 2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a nationally representative sample of the US population. PAD was defined as an ankle brachial index ≤0.90 in either leg. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated by logistic regression. Results The prevalence of PAD in the cohort was 5.7%. MPV was significantly associated with PAD prevalence (tertile 1 – 4.4%, tertile 2 – 6.1%, tertile 3 – 7.0%, P for trend = 0.003). After adjustment for age, sex, and race, the odds ratio of PAD comparing the highest tertile to the lowest tertile was 1.57 (95% confidence interval 1.15–2.13). After further adjustment for smoking status, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, glomerular filtration rate, body mass index, and platelet count the corresponding odds ratio was 1.58 (95% confidence interval 1.14–2.19). The addition of triglycerides, hemoglobin A1c, and C-reactive protein did not affect the results. The significant association between MPV and PAD was unchanged when MPV was used as a continuous variable. Conclusions Mean platelet volume is independently associated with PAD. These findings support the hypothesis that platelet size is an independent predictor of increased risk for PAD.

OBJECTIVEFetuin-A is an inhibitor of vascular calcification and a mediator of insulin resistance. This study evaluated the association of plasma fetuin-A and peripheral arterial disease (PAD).RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSA total of 738 individuals with type 2 diabetes (mean age 58.7 years, 37.1% female) without known cardiovascular or kidney disease were included in this cross-sectional analysis.RESULTSSubjects with PAD had a significantly lower fetuin-A (264.3 vs. 293.4 ng/dl, P < 0.001). In multivariable analysis, a 1-SD decrease in fetuin-A increased the odds of PAD (odds ratio 1.6, P = 0.02). Subgroup analysis revealed an increased odds even in subjects with glomerular filtration rate >80 (odds ratio 1.9, P = 0.05) or high-sensitivity C-reactive protein <3 mg/dl (odds ratio 2.7, P = 0.002).CONCLUSIONSLower circulating fetuin-A is associated with PAD in type 2 diabetes beyond traditional and novel cardiovascular risk factors. Our findings suggest a potentially unique role for fetuin-A deficiency as a biomarker of PAD in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background Candidate gene association studies for peripheral artery disease (PAD), including subclinical disease assessed with the ankle-brachial index (ABI), have been limited by the modest number of genes examined. We conducted a two stage meta-analysis of ~50,000 SNPs across ~2100 candidate genes to identify genetic variants for ABI. Methods and results We studied subjects of European ancestry from 8 studies (n = 21,547, 55% women, mean age 44–73 years) and African American ancestry from 5 studies (n = 7267, 60% women, mean age 41–73 years) involved in the candidate gene association resource (CARe) consortium. In each ethnic group, additive genetic models were used (with each additional copy of the minor allele corresponding to the given beta) to test each SNP for association with continuous ABI (excluding ABI > 1.40) and PAD (defined as ABI < 0.90) using linear or logistic regression with adjustment for known PAD risk factors and population stratification. We then conducted a fixed-effects inverse-variance weighted meta-analyses considering a p < 2 × 10−6 to denote statistical significance. Results In the European ancestry discovery meta-analyses, rs2171209 in SYTL3 (β = −0.007, p = 6.02 × 10−7) and rs290481 in TCF7L2 (β = −0.008, p = 7.01 × 10−7) were significantly associated with ABI. None of the SNP associations for PAD were significant, though a SNP in CYP2B6 (p = 4.99 × 10−5) was among the strongest associations. These 3 genes are linked to key PAD risk factors (lipoprotein(a), type 2 diabetes, and smoking behavior, respectively). We sought replication in 6 population-based and 3 clinical samples (n = 15,440) for rs290481 and rs2171209. However, in the replication stage (rs2171209, p = 0.75; rs290481, p = 0.19) and in the combined discovery and replication analysis the SNP–ABI associations were no longer significant (rs2171209, p = 1.14 × 10−3; rs290481, p = 8.88 × 10−5). In African Americans, none of the SNP associations for ABI or PAD achieved an experiment-wide level of significance. Conclusions Genetic determinants of ABI and PAD remain elusive. Follow-up of these preliminary findings may uncover important biology given the known gene-risk factor associations. New and more powerful approaches to PAD gene discovery are warranted.

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