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Age and cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with arterial stiffening and left ventricular remodelling

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 24, pages 197–206 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Arterial stiffening, hypertension and left ventricular (LV) remodelling are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with cardiovascular function and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. This cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the relationships between cardiorespiratory fitness, arterial stiffness, blood pressure (BP) and LV remodelling in women. On the basis of peak oxygen uptake, a total of 159 premenopausal (young) and postmenopausal (older) women were categorized into either low (unfit) or high (fit) cardiorespiratory fitness groups. The arterial stiffness and LV remodelling were measured by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and carotid augmentation index (AI) and LV relative wall thickness (RWT). Two-way analysis of variance indicated a significant interaction between age and cardiorespiratory fitness in baPWV, carotid AI, BP and RWT. In the older group, arterial stiffness (baPWV; 1401±231 vs 1250±125 cm s–1, P<0.01, AI; 32.9±9.9 vs 24.8±10.1%, P<0.01), systolic blood pressure (SBP) (130±22 vs 117±15 mm Hg, P<0.01) and RWT (0.47±0.08 vs 0.42±0.04, P<0.05) in fit women were lower than in unfit women. In older women, RWT was significantly related to baPWV (r=0.46, P<0.01), carotid AI (r=0.29, P<0.05), SBP (r=0.57, P<0.01) V̇2peak (r=−0.32, P<0.05). In young women, they were not significant correlations, except for a weak correlation between RWT and SBP (r=0.21, P<0.05). These results suggest that higher cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with lower arterial stiffness, BP and RWT in older women.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their appreciation to the participants for their participation in this study. This study was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare of Japan (to M Miyachi).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Saitama, Japan

    Y Gando & E Takahashi

  2. Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Saitama, Jap, an

    H Kawano & M Higuchi

  3. Consolidated Research Institute for Advanced Science and Medical Care, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

    K Yamamoto, K Sanada & C Usui

  4. Health Promotion and Exercise Program, National Institute of Health and Nutrition, Tokyo, Japan

    M Tanimoto, Y Ohmori, M Miyatani, I Tabata & M Miyachi

  5. Department of Health and Sports Science, Matsumoto University, Nagano, Japan

    T Oh

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  1. Y Gando
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Correspondence to M Miyachi.

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Gando, Y., Kawano, H., Yamamoto, K. et al. Age and cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with arterial stiffening and left ventricular remodelling. J Hum Hypertens 24, 197–206 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2009.57

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2009.57

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