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Increased central arterial stiffness and altered cerebrovascular haemodynamic properties in South Asian older adults

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 30, pages 309–314 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

South Asians (SA) suffer from a higher burden of heart disease and stroke compared with White Caucasians (CA). We hypothesized that increased arterial stiffness in older adults of SA origin would be associated with greater cerebrovascular pulsatile pressure and flow characteristics compared with CA older adults. Forty-four SA and CA older adults, free of known cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, were assessed. Vascular ageing was characterized by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity, carotid pulse pressure, compliance coefficient (CC) and intima-media thickness (IMT). Duplex ultrasonography of the internal carotid arteries estimated anterior cerebral blood flow (aCBF) and cerebrovascular resistance (aCVR), and transcranial Doppler ultrasound quantified middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity, resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI). Fasting blood samples were collected to assess glycaemic status, lipid profile and C-reactive protein. SA had higher carotid pulse pressure and lower CC indicating stiffer arteries compared with CA. Multiple regression analyses revealed that ethnic differences in arterial stiffness were associated with glycated haemoglobin level in SA. Among SA, an inverse association was observed between carotid CC and aCVR. In turn, aCVR was associated with a steeper reduction in aCBF in SA than in CA. IMT was strongly associated with greater PI and RI (r>0.81, P<0.001) in SA, whereas a weaker relationship for PI (r=0.46, P=0.03) and no significant relationship for RI were found in CA. The study found stronger associations between pulsatile cerebrovascular haemodynamics and structural and functional alterations in central arteries in SA that may underlie the elevated risk for cerebrovascular disease.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the participants for volunteering their time in this study, as well as Jing Ouyang, Danielle Greaves and Katelyn Fraser for their technical assistance. This research was supported in part by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Grant No. 196261). Richard L Hughson is supported as Schlegel Research Chair in Vascular Aging and Brain Health.

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  1. Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    I Brar, A D Robertson & R L Hughson

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  1. I Brar
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Correspondence to R L Hughson.

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Brar, I., Robertson, A. & Hughson, R. Increased central arterial stiffness and altered cerebrovascular haemodynamic properties in South Asian older adults. J Hum Hypertens 30, 309–314 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2015.76

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