The Main Determinants Of Ambulatory Arterial Stiffness Index And Analysis Of Its Relationship With Arteriosclerosis

Background and Objective:Morbidity and mortality in cardiovascular disease are related primarily to structural and functional alterations of the arterial wall. Changes in the arterial wall can lead to increased arterial stiffness, which has been shown to influence cardiovascular prognosis adversely. To examine arterial elastic properties, ambulatory arterial stiffness index has been used increasingly in clinical studies as it is a simple and reproducible non-invasive technique. Ambulatory arterial stiffness index, a parameter that reflects the whole arterial elasticit and can be computed from 24 h blood pressure recordings.The aims of the present study were two aspects:to characterize the main determinants of ambulatory arterial stiffness index in general population of china; to investigate whether the ambulatory arterial stiffness index is correlated with CFPWV and rAI.Material and Methods:In a population-based cross-sectional study of 335 subjects (119men and 216women) aged 36～85 years (66.94±7.47 years, mean±SD) from Beijing, not treated for hypertension. Each participant was interviewed and completed a standardized questionnaire and physical examinations. Blood was withdrawn for the determination of blood biochemistry and oral glucose tolerance test; AI was measured in the left radial artery using tonometry Colin HEM-9000AI; Automatic pulse wave velocity measuring system (Complior SP, France) was applied to examine carotid-femoral PWV (CFPWV) as the parameters reflecting central elastic large arterial elasticity respectively. We programmed Mediech ABPM-04 to obtain blood pressure reading at intervals of 20 minutes from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM and 30 minutes from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM. All analyses were conducted using SPSS (Version.13, SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois).Results:1. There was direct correlationship between AASI and age,24h mean pulse pressure, CFPWV, rAI. (.P<0.001).2. The average value of AASI in the subjects of this study was 0.53±0.10. AASI was significantly higher in women than in men(0.54 compared with 0.51, P<0.05). AASI was positively related to age in men and women (r= 0.7083,P<0.001, and r= 0.7057, P<0.001, respectively).3. AASI was significantly higher in hypertension patients than in healthy people (0.59 compared with 0.52, P<0.01).4. Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that age (positive), heigh (inverse),24 h mean pulse pressure (positive), diastolic blood pressure(inverse) were independent determinants of AASI (P<0.01).Conclusions:Ambulatory arterial stiffness index may be a new index of arterial stiffness. AASI showed an association with carotid-femoral PWV and rAI. AASI seemed to be influenced by age and gender in subjects, it is higher in women than men. Also, it is higher in hypertension patients than healthy people. There was independent correlativity between AASI and age, heigh,24 h mean pulse pressure, diastolic blood pressure.