© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.
Vascular Biology |
Carotid Artery Wall Hypertrophy With Age Is Related to Local Systolic Blood Pressure in Healthy Men
From the Human Cardiovascular Research Laboratory (H.T., F.A.D., K.D.M., C.A.D., D.R.S.), Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, University of Colorado at Boulder, and the Divisions of Cardiology and Geriatric Medicine (D.R.S.), Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver.
Correspondence to Hirofumi Tanaka, PhD, Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0354. E-mail tanakah{at}colorado.edu
Abstract—Carotid
artery intima-media thickness (IMT) increases with advancing age in
humans. The underlying mechanism of this increase is unknown, but data
from animal studies suggest that a chronic increase in local distending
pressure can act as a stimulus. To test this hypothesis, we studied a
total of 129 healthy normotensive, nonobese, nonsmoking men aged 18 to
77 years. Brachial systolic blood pressure (SBP) was unchanged,
but carotid SBP increased progressively with age
(P<0.05). Carotid IMT and the
ratio of carotid IMT to lumen (ultrasonography) increased progressively
with age (P<0.05). Carotid IMT
was 
50% greater in the older compared with the young men. Carotid
SBP was positively related to carotid IMT
(r=0.55,
P<0.001). After carotid SBP
was taken into account (ANCOVA), the age-related difference in carotid
IMT was no longer statistically significant
(P=0.22). We conclude that
carotid IMT increases with age in healthy men in the absence of
elevations in peripheral SBP. Carotid SBP increases
progressively with advancing age in this population and is
significantly related to the corresponding carotid wall
hypertrophy. These results support the hypothesis that
chronic increases in local distending pressure may be an important
mechanism in the wall thickening that occurs with human aging in
central elastic arteries.
Key Words: arterial stiffness • vascular compliance • smooth muscle cells
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