This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 50/1/228    most recent HYPERTENSIONAHA.107.089391v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wallace, S. M.L. Articles by Wilkinson, I. B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wallace, S. M.L. Articles by Wilkinson, I. B. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information High Blood Pressure Related Collections Other hypertension Endothelium/vascular type/nitric oxide Mechanism of atherosclerosis/growth factors Other Vascular biology

(Hypertension. 2007;50:228.)
© 2007 American Heart Association, Inc.

Sixth International Workshop on Structure and Function of the Vascular System

Isolated Systolic Hypertension Is Characterized by Increased Aortic Stiffness and Endothelial Dysfunction

Sharon M.L. Wallace; Yasmin; Carmel M. McEniery; Kaisa M. Mäki-Petäjä; Anthony D. Booth; John R. Cockcroft; Ian B. Wilkinson

From Clinical Pharmacology (S.M.L.W., Y., C.M.M., K.M.M-P., A.D.B., I.B.W.), University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge; and the Wales Heart Research Institute (J.R.C.), University Hospital, Cardiff, United Kingdom.

Correspondence to Ian B. Wilkinson, Clinical Pharmacology, University of Cambridge, Box 110, Level 3, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, United Kingdom. E-mail ibw20{at}cam.ac.uk

Isolated systolic hypertension is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. It is thought to result from large artery stiffening, which is determined by structural components within the vasculature but also by functional factors including NO and endothelin-1. We hypothesized that endothelial dysfunction would account for increased arterial stiffness in patients with isolated systolic hypertension. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between endothelial function and arterial stiffness in these patients along with control subjects. We studied 113 subjects: 35 patients with isolated systolic hypertension (mean age±SD: 68±6 years), 30 age-matched control subjects (65±5 years), and 48 young control subjects (37±9 years). Aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) was derived by sequential carotid/femoral waveform recordings. Conduit artery endothelial function was determined by flow-mediated dilatation. Aortic PWV was higher (9.65±2.56 m/s versus 8.26±0.85 m/s; P=0.009), and flow-mediated dilatation was lower (2.67±1.64% versus 4.79±3.1%; P=0.03) in patients with isolated systolic hypertension compared with age-matched control subjects. Similarly, aortic PWV was also higher, and flow-mediated dilatation lower, in older versus young control subjects (8.26±0.85 m/s versus 7.09±1.01 m/s and 4.79±3.1% versus 6.94±2.7%; P=0.004 for both). Overall, aortic PWV correlated inversely with flow-mediated dilatation (r=–0.3; P=0.001), which remained significant after adjustment for confounding factors (P=0.01). Patients with isolated systolic hypertension have higher aortic PWV and decreased endothelial function compared with age-matched control subjects. Our results suggest that endothelial function contributes significantly to increased arterial stiffness in patients with isolated systolic hypertension and with age.

Key Words: arterial stiffness • endothelial function • isolated systolic hypertension • age

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Thorin and N. Thorin-Trescases Vascular endothelial ageing, heartbeat after heartbeat Cardiovasc Res, October 1, 2009; 84(1): 24 - 32. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. M. Madden, C. Lockhart, D. Cuff, T. F. Potter, and G. S. Meneilly Short-Term Aerobic Exercise Reduces Arterial Stiffness in Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension, and Hypercholesterolemia Diabetes Care, August 1, 2009; 32(8): 1531 - 1535. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Giannattasio, P. Salvi, F. Valbusa, A. Kearney-Schwartz, A. Capra, M. Amigoni, M. Failla, L. Boffi, F. Madotto, A. Benetos, et al. Simultaneous Measurement of Beat-to-Beat Carotid Diameter and Pressure Changes to Assess Arterial Mechanical Properties Hypertension, November 1, 2008; 52(5): 896 - 902. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]