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.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Associations between circulating metabolites and arterial stiffness

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 35, pages 809–811 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Arterial stiffness is a strong predictor of cardiovascular events and the most important contributor to the age-related development of hypertension. Our study suggests that arterial stiffness is connected to elevated circulating concentrations of branched-chain amino acids, aromatic amino acids, glycerol, and the inflammation marker GlycA, all well-known correlates of diabetes and unhealthy lifestyle.

Arterial stiffness predicts cardiovascular morbidities and is a key factor in the development of age-related hypertension [1]. Although challenging, arterial stiffening, and ensuing hypertension can be prevented through maintaining a healthy lifestyle throughout life [1]. Serum metabolites, and in particular lipid composition, are in part a proxy for lifestyle, as they reflect variations in diet and metabolism. Earlier studies have demonstrated various associations between serum and urine metabolites and pulse wave velocity (PWV). However, these studies have been limited in sample size [2, 3], have used a targeted case-control design [3, 4], were restricted only to women [5], or used mass spectrometry for metabolite detection, which often results in a large number of unidentified metabolites [5, 6]. We therefore studied the associations between 1H-NMR-determined plasma metabolites and arterial stiffness in a population sample of 461 individuals. Our goal was to elucidate key metabolic risk factors for increased arterial stiffness that could be used as targets for preventing the age-related development of hypertension.

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

Fig. 1: The association between circulating metabolites and pulse wave velocity.

References

  1. Niiranen TJ, Lyass A, Larson MG, Hamburg NM, Benjamin EJ, Mitchell GF, et al. Prevalence, correlates, and prognosis of healthy vascular aging in a western community-dwelling cohort. Hypertension. 2017;70:267–74.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Anderson SG, Sanders TAB, Cruickshank JK. Plasma fatty acid composition as a predictor of arterial stiffness and mortality. Hypertension. 2009;53:839–45.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Zagura M, Kals J, Kilk K, Serg M, Kampus P, Eha J, et al. Metabolomic signature of arterial stiffness in male patients with peripheral arterial disease. Hypertens Res. 2015;38:840–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Jung S, Kim M, Lee YJ, Lee SH, Lee JH. Associations between metabolomic-identified changes of biomarkers and arterial stiffness in subjects progressing to impaired fasting glucose. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2015;83:196–204.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Menni C, Mangino M, Cecelja M, Psatha M, Brosnan MJ, Trimmer J, et al. Metabolomic study of carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity in women. J Hypertens. 2015;33:791–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Li C, He J, Li S, Chen W, Bazzano L, Sun X, et al. Novel metabolites are associated with augmentation index and pulse wave velocity: findings from the Bogalusa Heart Study. Am J Hypertens. 2019;32:547–56.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Johansson JK, Puukka PJ, Jula AM. Interarm blood pressure difference and target organ damage in the general population. J Hypertens. 2014;32:260–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Wang TJ, Larson MG, Vasan RS, Cheng S, Rhee EP, McCabe E, et al. Metabolite profiles and the risk of developing diabetes. Nat Med. 2011;17:448–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Pietiläinen KH, Naukkarinen J, Rissanen A, Saharinen J, Ellonen P, Keränen H, et al. Global transcript profiles of fat in monozygotic twins discordant for BMI: Pathways behind acquired obesity. PLoS Med. 2008;5:0472–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Mahendran Y, Cederberg H, Vangipurapu J, Kangas AJ, Soininen P, Kuusisto J, et al. Glycerol and fatty acids in serum predict the development of hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes in Finnish men. Diabetes Care. 2013;36:3732–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Harris WS, Mozaffarian D, Rimm E, Kris-Etherton P, Rudel LL, Appel LJ, et al. Omega-6 fatty acids and risk for cardiovascular disease: a science advisory from the American Heart Association nutrition subcommittee of the council on nutrition, physical activity, and metabolism; council on cardiovascular nursing; and council on epidem. Circulation. 2009;119:902–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Livingstone KM, Givens DI, Cockcroft JR, Pickering JE, Lovegrove JA. Is fatty acid intake a predictor of arterial stiffness and blood pressure in men? Evidence from the Caerphilly Prospective Study. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2013;23:1079–85.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

TN was funded by the Academy of Finland (grant no. 321351), the Urmas Pekkala Foundation, the Paavo Nurmen Säätiö, the Suomen Lääketieteen Säätiö, the Emil Aaltosen Säätiö, and the Hospital District of Southwest Finland.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Anni Kauko, Joonatan Palmu & Teemu Niiranen

  2. Division of Medicine, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland

    Joonatan Palmu & Teemu Niiranen

  3. Department of Public Health Solutions, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Turku and Helsinki, Finland

    Joonatan Palmu, Pekka Jousilahti, Aki Havulinna, Veikko Salomaa & Teemu Niiranen

  4. Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, FIMM-HiLIFE, Helsinki, Finland

    Aki Havulinna

Authors
  1. Anni Kauko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joonatan Palmu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pekka Jousilahti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Aki Havulinna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Veikko Salomaa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Teemu Niiranen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anni Kauko.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kauko, A., Palmu, J., Jousilahti, P. et al. Associations between circulating metabolites and arterial stiffness. J Hum Hypertens 35, 809–811 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-020-00434-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-020-00434-y

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links