Associations of central aortic pressure and brachial blood pressure with flow mediated dilatation in apparently healthy Japanese men: The Circulatory Risk in Communities Study (CIRCS).

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Endothelial dysfunction is considered the first stage in the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, and brachial flow-mediated dilation (FMD) is a measure of endothelial function. It is uncertain which of central systolic aortic pressure (CAP) or brachial systolic blood pressure (SBP) is more strongly associated with FMD. Therefore, we examined the correlations of CAP and SBP with FMD in Japanese men.

METHODS: The study subjects comprised 507 male volunteers aged 30-79 years that were residents in two communities under the Circulatory Risk in Communities Study (CIRCS) between 2013 and 2015. The low percent change of FMD (%FMD) ≤5.0%, after 5 min of reactive hyperemia evaluated by the brachial artery diameter, was used to assess endothelial dysfunction. Values of CAP and SBP were divided into tertiles, with the lowest tertile used as a reference.

RESULTS: After adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, the multivariable odds ratio (95% CI) of low FMD for the highest versus lowest tertile of CAP was 1.5 (0.9-2.6) for total subjects and 1.4 (0.5-3.8) for those with, and 2.4 (1.2-4.8) for those without antihypertensive medication use. The corresponding odd ratios for the highest versus lowest tertile of SBP were 0.9 (0.5-1.5), 0.8 (0.3-2.2), and 1.3 (0.7-2.5), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Higher CAP levels were associated with low FMD for men without antihypertensive medication, but such an association was not found for SBP levels.