Body Fat Is Associated With Reduced Aortic Stiffness Until Middle Age

Abstract

Abstract-Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiometabolic disease, but the effect of body composition on vascular aging and arterial stiffness remains uncertain. We investigated relationships among body composition, blood pressure, age, and aortic pulse wave velocity in healthy individuals. Pulse wave velocity in the thoracic aorta, an indicator of central arterial stiffness, was measured in 221 volunteers (range, 18-72 years; mean, 40.3±13 years) who had no history of cardiovascular disease using cardiovascular MRI. In univariate analyses, age (r=0.78; P<0.001) and blood pressure (r=0.41; P<0.001) showed a strong positive association with pulse wave velocity. In multivariate analysis, after adjustment for age, sex, and mean arterial blood pressure, elevated body fat% was associated with reduced aortic stiffness until the age of 50 years, thereafter adiposity had an increasingly positive association with aortic stiffness (β=0.16; P<0.001). Body fat% was positively associated with cardiac output when age, sex, height, and absolute lean mass were adjusted for (β=0.23; P=0.002). These findings suggest that the cardiovascular system of young adults may be capable of adapting to the state of obesity and that an adverse association between body fat and aortic stiffness is only apparent in later life. (Hypertension. 2013;61:1322-1327.)

Prevalence of High Arterial Stiffness and Gender-specific Differences in the Relationships with Classical Cardiovascular Risk Factors

“…We previously revealed that BMI is a protective factor for the incidence of high arterial stiffness. Although contradictory results have been reported by some researchers 15,16) , similar findings have been demonstrated in a large number of studies [34][35][36][37] . In the current study, we found that the protective factor of BMI is more effective in men than in women and in fact appeared as a risk factor in women before adjusting for other risk factors.…”

Inverse Relationship between Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index and Body Mass Index in Healthy Children

“…The lower CAVI scores in overweight adolescents may not necessarily be a sign of good health, but more importantly, may reflect a vascular adaptation to obesity. Lower CAVI scores may thus indicate a "honeymoon period" in relation to older-age deterioration of vascular function, when chronic detrimental changes become evident in adults, as suggested by Corden et al 19 from their recent studies in adults. Charakida et al 20 reported on the results from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children involving children aged 10-11 years and found that overweight and obese children had higher heart rates, higher systolic BP, greater brachial artery diameter, and lower arterial stiffness.…”

How to estimate aortic characteristic impedance from magnetic resonance and applanation tonometry data?

“…1b) using the validated ArtFun software (U.678 Inserm/UPMC) [38], which has been previously used in various studies on large populations [4,33,39]. Such segmentation resulted in ascending aorta lumen area variations from SSFP data and ascending aorta flow curves from phase-contrast data, after superimposition of modulus contours on velocity images (Fig.…”