Background: Although aging-related elastic arterial stiffness is an independent indicator of cardiovascular risk, the roles of polyunsaturated fatty acids in this condition remain uncertain.
Objective: This prospective study examined the relationships of aging, persist overweight and plasma fatty acids with arterial stiffening over 3 years.
Methods: We divided a cohort of 179 healthy, nonhypertensive subjects (aged ≥50 years) into 2 groups: a normal-weight group (18.5 kg/m2 ≤ body mass index [BMI] < 25 kg/m2, n = 103) and an overweight group (25 kg/m2 ≤ BMI< 30 kg/m2, n = 76). Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) and plasma fatty acids were measured at baseline and after 3 years.
Results: After 3 years, the overweight group showed greater increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, insulin, homeostasis model assessment-Insulin resistance index and ba-PWV values (P = .009) than the normal-weight group. In addition, greater reductions in eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:3, n-3, EPA; P = .009) and the EPA/arachidonic acid (C20:4, n-6, AA) ratio (P = .001) were found in the overweight group. Multivariate analyses revealed that changes in (Δ) ba-PWV were significantly and positively associated with baseline BMI values and ΔAA/linoleic acid ratios (C18:2, n-6, LA) and negatively associated with ΔEPA/AA ratios. In a subanalysis using baseline BMI values, Δba-PWV correlated strongly and negatively with ΔEPA/AA ratios (r = -0.595, P < .001) and positively with ΔAA/LA ratios (r = 0.455, P < .001) in the overweight group.
Conclusion: This study suggests that the persistence of overweight over 3 years in subjects ≥50 years old is associated with faster arterial stiffening than is observed in normal-weight subjects and that this stiffening is independently associated with increases in AA/LA and decreases in EPA/AA ratios.
Keywords: Arterial stiffness; Fatty acids; Overweight; PUFA; PWV.
Copyright © 2016 National Lipid Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.