Possible mechanism underlying the association between height and vascular remodeling in elderly Japanese men

Abstract

Height is reported to be inversely associated with cardiovascular disease. And platelets play an important role in vascular remodeling by supporting CD34-positive cells. To clarify the association between height and platelet, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 219 elderly Japanese men. Since hemoglobin concentration is influenced by vascular remodeling activity, an analysis stratified by hemoglobin level was performed. An inverse association was seen between height and platelet count in subjects with a high hemoglobin concentration (≥ 14.5 g/dL), but not in subjects with a low hemoglobin concentration (< 14.5 g/dL). The standardized parameter estimates (β) were β = −0.22, p = 0.019 for subjects with high hemoglobin, and β = −0.01, p = 0.931 for subjects with low hemoglobin. We also found a positive association between platelets and carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) and circulating CD34-positive cells in subjects with high hemoglobin (partial correlation coefficient (r) = 0.21, p = 0.037 and r = 0.40, p =< 0.001), but not in subjects with low hemoglobin (r = 0.04, p = 0.710 and r = 0.06, p = 0.544). In subjects with a high hemoglobin concentration, platelets were inversely associated with height, and positively associated with CIMT and circulating CD34-positive cells. These results indicate that subjects with a short stature activate vascular remodeling to a much greater extent than subjects with a tall stature.

Association between tongue pressure and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis in relation to platelet levels in hypertensive elderly men: a cross-sectional study

“…This study also demonstrated that short stature is positively associated with reduced tongue pressure. Short stature has not only been associated with inflammatory disadvantage [ 47 ], higher risk of stroke [ 48 ], higher prevalence of subclinical carotid atherosclerosis [ 49 ], and higher activity of endothelial repair evaluated in terms of higher platelet levels [ 27 ], but also with lower capacity of hematopoietic cell activity [ 50 , 51 ] and lower capability for endothelial maintenance [ 52 ]. All those factors may have confounded our findings, so that further investigation is needed.…”

“…Moreover, platelets perform an important role in endothelial repair in conjunction with bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells such as CD34-positive cells [ 14 – 16 , 24 ], and active endothelial repair leads to a decrease in the endothelial cell count (consumptive reduction) [ 25 ]. Since the circulating CD34-positive cell count is reported to be associated with muscle strength in hypertensive men [ 26 ] as well as with platelet count [ 25 , 27 ], factors that exert a strong influence on circulating CD34-positive cell levels, such as antihypertensive medication use [ 28 ], BMI, and HbA1C [ 25 ], also should be considered confounding factors for our analyses.…”

Hepatocyte growth factor and carotid intima-media thickness in relation to circulating CD34-positive cell levels

“…Although the sample used for our study was small, it is the largest sample used to date for a study dealing with circulating CD34-positive cell levels in a general elderly population selected with strict criteria, since the participants were restricted to men in a narrow age range because differences in gender and age can act as strong confounding factors on associations between CD34-positive cells, HGF, and CIMT [ 25 , 35 – 40 ]. For this reason, even age was slightly but significantly positively associated with CIMT (simple correlation coefficient ( r ) = 0.17 p < 0.005) in our study, while no such associations were observed for logarithm-transformed CD34-positive cells ( r = − 0.006, p = 0.034) and HGF ( r = 0.03, p = 0.646).…”

“…Alcohol consumption and smoking status are well-known factors that affect vascular remodeling. Since γ-GTP is recognized as a factor that is influenced by alcohol consumption, and WBC as a factor that is influenced by smoking status [ 24 ], we added γ-GTP and WBC as the confounding factors to the present analysis instead of using alcohol consumption and smoking status directly as was done in a previous study of ours [ 25 ]. For the multiple linear regression analysis, adjustments were made for age, systolic blood pressure (mmHg), BMI (kg/m 2 ), TG (mg/dL), HDLc (mg/dL), γ-GTP (IU/L), HbA1c (%), GFR (mL/min/1.73m 2 ), and WBC (cells/μL).…”

Association of hemoglobin concentration with handgrip strength in relation to hepatocyte growth factor levels among elderly Japanese men aged 60–69 years: a cross-sectional study

“…Furthermore, alcohol consumption and smoking status are well known as factors that affect vascular remodeling. Since γ-GTP has been recognized as a factor that is influenced by alcohol consumption [ 15 ], and WBC as a factor that is influenced by smoking status [ 16 ], we added γ-GTP and WBC as confounding factors to our analysis instead of using alcohol consumption and smoking status directly as was done in a previous study of ours [ 11 , 17 ]. For the multiple linear regression analysis, adjustments were made for age, SBP (mmHg), BMI (kg/m 2 ), TG (mg/dL), HDLc (mg/dL), γ-GTP (U/L), HbA1c (%), eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m 2 ), and WBC (cells/μL).…”