Retinal Vessel Diameters and Blood Pressure Progression in Children.
Lona Giulia,Endes Katharina,Köchli Sabrina,Infanger Denis,Zahner Lukas,Hanssen Henner
Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979)
The prevalence of high childhood blood pressure (BP) is rising globally and has been associated with subclinical vascular impairments in children. Longitudinal data on the association of microvascular alterations with the development of high BP in children are lacking. We aimed to analyze the association of central retinal arteriolar (CRAE) and venular (CRVE) diameters with development of higher BP over 4 years in young school children. In 2014, 391 children aged 6 to 8 years were screened for BP and retinal vessel diameters using standardized protocols. Retinal vessel analysis was performed using a retinal vessel analyzer to determine CRAE and central retinal venular equivalent. In the follow-up of 2018, all parameters were assessed in 262 children using the same standardized protocols. During follow-up, systolic and diastolic BP increased significantly (Δ 3.965±8.25 and 1.733±7.63 mm Hg, respectively), while CRAE decreased by Δ -6.325±8.55 µm without significant changes in central retinal venular equivalent (Δ -0.163±7.94 µm). Children with narrower CRAE at baseline developed higher systolic BP after four years (β [95% CI] 0.78 [0.170-1.398] mm Hg per 10 µm decrease, =0.012). Children with increased systolic or diastolic BP at baseline developed narrower CRAE (β [95% CI] -0.154 [-0.294 to -0.014] µm per 1mmHg, =0.031 and β [95% CI] -0.02 [-0.344 to -0.057] µm per 1 mmHg, =0.006, respectively) at follow-up. Narrowing of retinal arterioles predicted evolution of systolic BP. In turn, higher initial systolic and diastolic BP was associated with subsequent development of microvascular impairments. Our results give good evidence for a bivariate temporal relationship between BP and microvascular health in children.
10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.14695
Cholesterol and Egg Intakes, and Risk of Hypertension in a Large Prospective Cohort of French Women.
MacDonald Conor-James,Madika Anne-Laure,Bonnet Fabrice,Fagherazzi Guy,Lajous Martin,Boutron-Ruault Marie-Christine
Nutrients
The relationship between egg and cholesterol intakes, and cardiovascular disease is controversial. Meta-analyses indicate that egg consumption is associated with increased cardiovascular disease and mortality, but reduced incidence of hypertension, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. This study aims to investigate the associations between consumption of egg and cholesterol, and hypertension risk in a cohort of French women. We used data from the E3N cohort study, a French prospective population-based study initiated in 1990. From the women in the study, we included those who completed a detailed diet history questionnaire, and who did not have prevalent hypertension or cardiovascular disease at baseline, resulting in 46,424 women. Hypertension cases were self-reported. Egg and cholesterol intake was estimated from dietary history questionnaires. Cox proportional hazard models with time-updated exposures were used to calculate hazard ratios. Spline regression was used to determine any dose-respondent relationship. During 885,321 person years, 13,161 cases of incident hypertension were identified. Higher cholesterol consumption was associated with an increased risk of hypertension : HR = 1.22 [1.14:1.30], with associations similar regarding egg consumption up to seven eggs per week: HR = 1.14 [1.06:1.18]. Evidence for a non-linear relationship between hypertension and cholesterol intake was observed. Egg and cholesterol intakes were associated with a higher risk of hypertension in French women. These results merit further investigation in other populations.
10.3390/nu12051350
Retinal Vasculometry Associations with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer-Norfolk Study.
Ophthalmology
PURPOSE:To examine associations between retinal vessel morphometry and cardiometabolic risk factors in older British men and women. DESIGN:Retinal imaging examination as part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk Eye Study. PARTICIPANTS:Retinal imaging and clinical assessments were carried out in 7411 participants. Retinal images were analyzed using a fully automated validated computerized system that provides novel measures of vessel morphometry. METHODS:Associations between cardiometabolic risk factors, chronic disease, and retinal markers were analyzed using multilevel linear regression, adjusted for age, gender, and within-person clustering, to provide percentage differences in tortuosity and absolute differences in width. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES:Retinal arteriolar and venular tortuosity and width. RESULTS:In all, 279 802 arterioles and 285 791 venules from 5947 participants (mean age, 67.6 years; standard deviation [SD], 7.6 years; 57% female) were analyzed. Increased venular tortuosity was associated with higher body mass index (BMI; 2.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7%-3.3% per 5 kg/m), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level (2.2%; 95% CI, 1.0%-3.5% per 1%), and prevalent type 2 diabetes (6.5%; 95% CI, 2.8%-10.4%); wider venules were associated with older age (2.6 μm; 95% CI, 2.2-2.9 μm per decade), higher triglyceride levels (0.6 μm; 95% CI, 0.3-0.9 μm per 1 mmol/l), BMI (0.7 μm; 95% CI, 0.4-1.0 per 5 kg/m), HbA1c level (0.4 μm; 95% CI, -0.1 to 0.9 per 1%), and being a current smoker (3.0 μm; 95% CI, 1.7-4.3 μm); smoking also was associated with wider arterioles (2.1 μm; 95% CI, 1.3-2.9 μm). Thinner venules were associated with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (1.4 μm; 95% CI, 0.7-2.2 per 1 mmol/l). Arteriolar tortuosity increased with age (5.4%; 95% CI, 3.8%-7.1% per decade), higher systolic blood pressure (1.2%; 95% CI, 0.5%-1.9% per 10 mmHg), in females (3.8%; 95% CI, 1.4%-6.4%), and in those with prevalent stroke (8.3%; 95% CI, -0.6% to 18%); no association was observed with prevalent myocardial infarction. Narrower arterioles were associated with age (0.8 μm; 95% CI, 0.6-1.0 μm per decade), higher systolic blood pressure (0.5 μm; 95% CI, 0.4-0.6 μm per 10 mmHg), total cholesterol level (0.2 μm; 95% CI, 0.0-0.3 μm per 1 mmol/l), and HDL (1.2 μm; 95% CI, 0.7-1.6 μm per 1 mmol/l). CONCLUSIONS:Metabolic risk factors showed a graded association with both tortuosity and width of retinal venules, even among people without clinical diabetes, whereas atherosclerotic risk factors correlated more closely with arteriolar width, even excluding those with hypertension and cardiovascular disease. These noninvasive microvasculature measures should be evaluated further as predictors of future cardiometabolic disease.
10.1016/j.ophtha.2018.07.022
Risk Factor Modeling for Cardiovascular Disease in Type 1 Diabetes in the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications (EDC) Study: A Comparison With the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications Study (DCCT/EDIC).
Miller Rachel G,Costacou Tina,Orchard Trevor J
Diabetes
In a recent Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT)/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) study report, mean HbA was the strongest predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) after age. In DCCT/EDIC, mean diabetes duration was 6 years (median 4) at baseline and those with high blood pressure or cholesterol were excluded. We now replicate these analyses in the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications (EDC) prospective cohort study of childhood-onset (at <17 years of age) type 1 diabetes, with similar age (mean 27 years in both studies) but longer diabetes duration (mean 19 years and median 18 years) and no CVD risk factor exclusion at baseline. CVD incidence (CVD death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, revascularization, angina, or ischemic electrocardiogram) was associated with diabetes duration, most recent albumin excretion rate (AER), updated mean triglycerides, baseline hypertension, baseline LDL cholesterol, and most recent HbA Major atherosclerotic cardiovascular events (CVD death, MI, or stroke) were associated with diabetes duration, most recent AER, baseline systolic blood pressure, baseline smoking, and updated mean HbA Compared with findings in DCCT/EDIC, traditional risk factors similarly predicted CVD; however AER predominates in EDC and HbA in DCCT/EDIC. Thus, the relative impact of HbA and kidney disease in type 1 diabetes varies according to diabetes duration.
10.2337/db18-0515
Metabolic syndrome but not obesity measures are risk factors for accelerated age-related glomerular filtration rate decline in the general population.
Stefansson Vidar T N,Schei Jørgen,Solbu Marit D,Jenssen Trond G,Melsom Toralf,Eriksen Bjørn O
Kidney international
Rapid age-related glomerular filtration rate (GFR) decline increases the risk of end-stage renal disease, and a low GFR increases the risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease. High body mass index and the metabolic syndrome are well-known risk factors for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease, but their role in accelerating age-related GFR decline independent of cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes is not adequately understood. We studied body mass index, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio and metabolic syndrome as risk factors for accelerated GFR decline in 1261 middle-aged people representative of the general population without diabetes, cardiovascular disease or kidney disease. GFR was measured as iohexol clearance at baseline and repeated after a median of 5.6 years. Metabolic syndrome was defined as fulfilling three out of five criteria, based on waist circumference, blood pressure, glucose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides. The mean GFR decline rate was 0.95 ml/min/year. Neither the body mass index, waist circumference nor waist-hip ratio predicted statistically significant changes in age-related GFR decline, but individuals with baseline metabolic syndrome had a significant mean of 0.30 ml/min/year faster decline than individuals without metabolic syndrome in a multivariable adjusted linear regression model. This association was mainly driven by the triglyceride criterion of metabolic syndrome, which was associated with a significant 0.36 ml/min/year faster decline when analyzed separately. Results differed significantly when GFR was estimated using creatinine and/or cystatin C. Thus, metabolic syndrome, but not the body mass index, waist circumference or waist-hip ratio, is an independent risk factor for accelerated age-related GFR decline in the general population.
10.1016/j.kint.2017.11.012
Direct Versus Calculated LDL Cholesterol and C-Reactive Protein in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment in the Framingham Offspring Study.
Ikezaki Hiroaki,Fisher Virginia A,Lim Elise,Ai Masumi,Liu Ching-Ti,Adrienne Cupples L,Nakajima Katsuyuki,Asztalos Bela F,Furusyo Norihiro,Schaefer Ernst J
Clinical chemistry
BACKGROUND:Increases in circulating LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) concentrations are significant risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). We assessed direct LDL-C and hsCRP concentrations compared to standard risk factors in the Framingham Offspring Study. METHODS:We used stored frozen plasma samples (-80 °C) obtained after an overnight fast from 3147 male and female participants (mean age, 58 years) free of CVD at cycle 6 of the Framingham Offspring Study. Overall, 677 participants (21.5%) had a CVD end point over a median of 16.0 years of follow-up. Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), direct LDL-C (Denka Seiken and Kyowa Medex methods), and hsCRP (Dade Behring method) concentrations were measured by automated analysis. LDL-C was also calculated by both the Friedewald and Martin methods. RESULTS:Considering all CVD outcomes on univariate analysis, significant factors included standard risk factors (age, hypertension, HDL-C, hypertension treatment, sex, diabetes, smoking, and TC concentration) and nonstandard risk factors (non-HDL-C, direct LDL-C and calculated LDL-C, TG, and hsCRP concentrations). On multivariate analysis, only the Denka Seiken direct LDL-C and the Dade Behring hsCRP were still significant on Cox regression analysis and improved the net risk reclassification index, but with modest effects. Discordance analysis confirmed the benefit of the Denka Seiken direct LDL-C method for prospective hard CVD endpoints (new-onset myocardial infarction, stroke, and/or CVD death). CONCLUSIONS:Our data indicate that the Denka Seiken direct LDL-C and Dade Behring hsCRP measurements add significant, but modest, information about CVD risk, compared to standard risk factors and/or calculated LDL-C.
10.1373/clinchem.2019.304600
Use of a pooled cohort to impute cardiovascular disease risk factors across the adult life course.
Zeki Al Hazzouri Adina,Vittinghoff Eric,Zhang Yiyi,Pletcher Mark J,Moran Andrew E,Bibbins-Domingo Kirsten,Golden Sherita H,Yaffe Kristine
International journal of epidemiology
BACKGROUND:In designing prevention strategies, it may be useful to understand how early and midlife cardiovascular disease risk factor (CVDRF) exposures affect outcomes that primarily occur in mid to late life. Few single US cohorts have followed participants from early adulthood to late life. METHODS:We pooled four prospective cohorts that represent segments of the adult life course, and studied 15 001 White and Black adults aged 18 to 95 years at enrollment. We imputed early and midlife exposure to body mass index (BMI), glucose, lipids and blood pressure (BP). CVDRF trajectories were estimated using linear mixed models. Using the best linear unbiased predictions, we obtained person-specific estimates of CVDRF trajectories beginning at age 20 until each participant's end of follow-up. We then calculated for each CVDRF, summary measures of early and midlife exposure as time-weighted averages (TWAs). RESULTS:In the pooled cohort, 33.7% were Black and 54.8% were female. CVDRF summary measures worsened in midlife compared with early life and varied by sex and race. In particular, systolic and diastolic BP were consistently higher over the adult life course among men, and BMI was higher among Blacks, particularly Black women. Simulation studies suggested acceptable imputation accuracy, especially for the younger cohorts. Correlations of true and imputed CVDRF summary measures ranged from 0.53 to 0.99, and agreement ranged from 67% to 99%. CONCLUSIONS:These results suggest that imputed CVDRFs may be accurate enough to be useful in assessing the effects of early and midlife exposures on later life outcomes.
10.1093/ije/dyy264