Metabolic syndrome is associated with change in subclinical arterial stiffness - A community-based Taichung Community Health Study

Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), a measurement interpreted as arterial stiffness, was measured in 1518 community-dwelling persons at baseline and re-examined within a mean follow-up period of 3 years. Multivariate linear regression with generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to examine the longitudinal relationship between MetS and its individual components and baPWV, while multivariate logistic regression with GEE was used to examine the longitudinal relationship between MetS and its individual components and the high risk group with arterial stiffness.Subjects with MetS showed significantly greater baPWV at the end point than those without MetS, after adjusting for age, gender, education, hypertension medication and mean arterial pressure (MAP). MetS was associated with the top quartile of baPWV (the high-risk group of arterial stiffness, adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval] 1.52 [1.21-1.90]), and a significant linear trend of risk for the number of components of MetS was found (p for trend < 0.05). In further considering the individual MetS component, elevated blood pressure and fasting glucose significantly predicted a high risk of arterial stiffness (adjusted OR [95% CI] 3.72 [2.81-4.93] and 1.35 [1.08-1.68], respectively).MetS affects the subject's progression to arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness increased as the number of MetS components increased. Management of MetS is important for preventing the progression to advanced arterial stiffness.Metabolic syndrome (MetS), defined as a cluster of features such as visceral obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, dyslipidemia, hypergtriglyceridemia, and elevated blood pressure [1,2], is highly prevalent all over the world [3-12]. MetS has been known as a critical risk factor in the incidence of type 2 diabetes and in cardiovascular outcome [1,13,14]. People with MetS have higher all-cause or cardiovascular mortality than those without MetS [15-17]. Arterial stiffness, a pathological co