Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Gallstone disease associated with increased risk of arterial stiffness in a Taiwanese population

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 31, pages 616–619 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Arterial stiffness has similar risk factors to gallstone disease (GSD). However, there are few studies on the association between arterial stiffness and GSD. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between arterial stiffness and GSD in a Taiwanese population. We enroled 6211 subjects from a health examination centre after excluding those who received medications for diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia or had a history of cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, cancer, cholecystectomy or ankle–brachial index of ⩽ 0.9 or⩾1.3. Increased arterial stiffness was defined as right brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) ⩾1400 cm s−1. The diagnosis of GSD was based on ultrasonographic findings. The prevalence of increased arterial stiffness was 47.2 and 31.9 % in subjects with and without GSD (P<0.001). A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that GSD, age, systolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and current smoking were positively associated with baPWV, whereas male gender, BMI, habitual exercise and HDL-C were negatively related to baPWV after adjusting for other clinical variables. In conclusion, subjects with GSD are associated with an increased risk of arterial stiffness.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Shaffer EA . Gallstone disease: epidemiology of gallbladder stone disease. Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol 2006; 20 (6): 981–996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Stinton LM, Shaffer EA . Epidemiology of gallbladder disease: cholelithiasis and cancer. Gut Liver 2012; 6 (2): 172–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Olaiya MT, Chiou HY, Jeng JS, Lien LM, Hsieh FI . Significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease among patients with gallstone disease: a population-based cohort study. PLoS ONE 2013; 8 (10): e76448.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Wirth J, di Giuseppe R, Wientzek A, Katzke VA, Kloss M, Kaaks R et al. Presence of gallstones and the risk of cardiovascular diseases: the EPIC-Germany cohort study. Eur J Prev Cardiol 2015; 22 (3): 326–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Bortnichak EA, Freeman DH Jr., Ostfeld AM, Castelli WP, Kannel WB, Feinleib M et al. The association between cholesterol cholelithiasis and coronary heart disease in Framingham, Massachusetts. Am J Epidemiol 1985; 121 (1): 19–30.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Lv J, Qi L, Yu C, Guo Y, Bian Z, Chen Y et al. Gallstone disease and the risk of ischemic heart disease. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2015; 35 (10): 2232–2237.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Mendez-Sanchez N, Zamora-Valdes D, Flores-Rangel JA, Perez-Sosa JA, Vasquez-Fernandez F, Lezama-Mora JI et al. Gallstones are associated with carotid atherosclerosis. Liver Int 2008; 28 (3): 402–406.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Kim JH, Ryoo JG, Lee JW, Kim JH . Gallstones are associated with intima-media thickness of common carotid arteries in men. Korean J Fam Med 2014; 35 (3): 136–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Cecelja M, Chowienczyk P . Role of arterial stiffness in cardiovascular disease. JRSM Cardiovasc Dis 2012; 1 (4): cvd.2012.012016.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Vlachopoulos C, Aznaouridis K, Stefanadis C . Prediction of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality with arterial stiffness: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol 2010; 55 (13): 1318–1327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Ben-Shlomo Y, Spears M, Boustred C, May M, Anderson SG, Benjamin EJ et al. Aortic pulse wave velocity improves cardiovascular event prediction: an individual participant meta-analysis of prospective observational data from 17,635 subjects. J Am Coll Cardiol 2014; 63 (7): 636–646.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Yamashina A, Tomiyama H, Takeda K, Tsuda H, Arai T, Hirose K et al. Validity, reproducibility, and clinical significance of noninvasive brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity measurement. Hypertens Res 2002; 25 (3): 359–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Tsuchikura S, Shoji T, Kimoto E, Shinohara K, Hatsuda S, Koyama H et al. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity as an index of central arterial stiffness. J Atheroscler Thromb 2010; 17 (6): 658–665.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Vlachopoulos C, Aznaouridis K, Terentes-Printzios D, Ioakeimidis N, Stefanadis C . Prediction of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality with brachial-ankle elasticity index: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Hypertension 2012; 60 (2): 556–562.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Jorgensen T . Gall stones in a Danish population. Relation to weight, physical activity, smoking, coffee consumption, and diabetes mellitus. Gut 1989; 30 (4): 528–534.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Upala S, Sanguankeo A, Jaruvongvanich V . Gallstone disease and the risk of cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Scand J Surg 2016; 106: 21–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Atamer A, Ovunc AO, Yesil A, Atamer Y . Evaluation of leptin and insulin resistance in patients with cholelithiasis. Indian J Biochem Biophy 2013; 50 (4): 266–272.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Nakeeb A, Comuzzie AG, Al-Azzawi H, Sonnenberg GE, Kissebah AH, Pitt HA . Insulin resistance causes human gallbladder dysmotility. J Gastrointest Surg 2006; 10: 940–948.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Tahara N, Yamagishi S, Matsui T, Takeuchi M, Nitta Y, Kodama N et al. Serum levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are independent correlates of insulin resistance in nondiabetic subjects. Cardiovasc Ther 2012; 30 (1): 42–48.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Aronson D . Cross-linking of glycated collagen in the pathogenesis of arterial and myocardial stiffening of aging and diabetes. J Hypertens 2003; 21 (1): 3–12.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Omer S, Sadiem, Taher Mohamed A, Seenaa S Amin . Association of oxidative stress markers with cholelithiasis. Iraqi J Pharm Sci 2014; 23 (2): 57–61.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Geetha A . Evidence for oxidative stress in the gall bladder mucosa of gall stone patients. J Biochem Mol Biol Biophys 2002; 6 (6): 427–432.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Wu J, Xia S, Kalionis B, Wan W . The role of oxidative stress and inflammation in cardiovascular aging. Biomed Res Int 2014; 2014: 615312.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Cecelja M, Chowienczyk P . Dissociation of aortic pulse wave velocity with risk factors for cardiovascular disease other than hypertension: a systematic review. Hypertension 2009; 54 (6): 1328–1336.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Wilkinson I, Cockcroft JR . Cholesterol, lipids and arterial stiffness. Adv Cardiol 2007; 44: 261–277.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Zhou F, Zhang H, Yao W, Mei H, Xu D, Sheng Y et al. Relationship between brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and metabolic syndrome components in a Chinese population. J Biomed Res 2014; 28 (4): 262–268.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Paik JK, Kim M, Kwak JH, Lee EK, Lee SH, Lee JH . Increased arterial stiffness in subjects with impaired fasting glucose. J Diabetes Complications 2013; 27 (3): 224–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Mazzone T, Chait A, Plutzky J . Cardiovascular disease risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus: insights from mechanistic studies. Lancet 2008; 371 (9626): 1800–1809.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. London GM, Guerin AP, Pannier B, Marchais SJ, Stimpel M . Influence of sex on arterial hemodynamics and blood pressure. Role of body height. Hypertension 1995; 26 (3): 514–519.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Smulyan H, Asmar RG, Rudnicki A, London GM, Safar ME . Comparative effects of aging in men and women on the properties of the arterial tree. J Am Coll Cardiol 2001; 37 (5): 1374–1380.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Tomiyama H, Yamashina A, Arai T, Hirose K, Koji Y, Chikamori T et al. Influences of age and gender on results of noninvasive brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity measurement—a survey of 12517 subjects. Atherosclerosis 2003; 166 (2): 303–309.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Wildman RP, Mackey RH, Bostom A, Thompson T, Sutton-Tyrrell K . Measures of obesity are associated with vascular stiffness in young and older adults. Hypertension 2003; 42 (4): 468–473.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Yang Z, Xia WH, Su C, Wu F, Zhang YY, Xu SY et al. Regular exercise-induced increased number and activity of circulating endothelial progenitor cells attenuates age-related decline in arterial elasticity in healthy men. Int J Cardiol 2013; 165 (2): 247–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Tomiyama H, Hashimoto H, Tanaka H, Matsumoto C, Odaira M, Yamada J et al. Continuous smoking and progression of arterial stiffening: a prospective study. J Am Coll Cardiol 2010; 55 (18): 1979–1987.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported, in part, by Grant NCKUHFM-103-144 from the Department of Family Medicine, NCKUH.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan City, Taiwan

    J-Y Wang, F-H Lu, Z-J Sun, J-S Wu, Y-C Yang, C-T Lee & C-J Chang

  2. Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan

    F-H Lu, J-S Wu, Y-C Yang & C-J Chang

  3. Department of Family Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Dou-Liou Branch, Tainan City, Taiwan

    Z-J Sun

Authors
  1. J-Y Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. F-H Lu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Z-J Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J-S Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Y-C Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. C-T Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. C-J Chang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to J-S Wu or Y-C Yang.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, JY., Lu, FH., Sun, ZJ. et al. Gallstone disease associated with increased risk of arterial stiffness in a Taiwanese population. J Hum Hypertens 31, 616–619 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2017.43

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2017.43

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links