Vascular Impact of Metabolic Syndrome in Subjects with Normal Weight, Overweight, or Obesity: Is Normal Weight Sufficient for Vascular Health?

Transition from metabolically healthy to unhealth status associated with risk of carotid artery plaque in Chinese adults

Objective

We aimed to evaluate the association between the shift of metabolic status and future risk of carotid artery plaque (CAP) in community-based Chinese adults.

Methods

The current study included 9836 Chinese adults (4085 males and 5751 females, mean age 35.8 years) with metabolically healthy status at baseline (2013). Metabolically healthy status was defined as no self-reported history of metabolic diseases and cancer, and normal blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin A1c level, and lipid profiles. Metabolically unhealthy status was defined if any of the following metabolic abnormalities were confirmed twice during follow up: high blood pressure, impaired glucose regulation, high triglycerides, high total cholesterol, high low-density lipoprotein cholesterols, or low high-density lipoprotein cholesterols. The transition was confirmed if participants’ metabolic status shifted from baseline healthy to unhealthy status during follow up (2014–2018).

Results

We have identified 133 incident cases of CAP during follow up. Compared to those who remained metabolically healthy, the transition to high blood pressure, high total cholesterol, and high low-density lipoprotein cholesterols, were associated with high risk of developing carotid artery plaque (Hazards ratios (HRs) ranged from 1.69 to 2.34; p < 0.05 for all). The transition to impaired glucose regulation, high total triglycerides, and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterols, were associated with high risk of carotid artery plaque only in participants with metabolically healthy overweight at baseline (HR ranged from 1.95 to 4.62; p < 0.05 for all).

Conclusion

The transition from baseline metabolically healthy status to unhealth status was associated with high risk of incident CAP.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12872-021-02279-w.

Serum osteoprotegerin levels associated with the aortic augmentation index in renal transplant recipients

OBJECTIVES

Arterial stiffness is recognized as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Recent studies found that osteoprotegerin (OPG) is associated with arterial stiffness and may reflect endothelial dysfunction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between fasting serum OPG levels and the aortic augmentation index (AIx) in renal transplant recipients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fasting blood samples were obtained from 66 renal transplant recipients. The aortic AIx was measured using a validated tonometry system (SphygmoCor). Serum OPG levels were measured using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit.

RESULTS

Univariate linear analysis of the aortic AIx in renal transplant recipients revealed that body fat mass (r = 0.377, p = 0.002), aortic diastolic blood pressure (DBP; r = 0.307, p = 0.020), triglycerides (r = 0.260, p = 0.035), and logarithmically transformed OPG (log-OPG, r = 0.402, p < 0.001) were positively correlated, whereas height (r = 0.361, p = 0.004) and body weight (r = 0.212, p = 0.041) were negatively correlated with the aortic AIx in renal transplant recipients. Multivariate forward stepwise linear regression analysis of the factors significantly associated with the aortic AIx showed that log-OPG (R2 = 0.213, p < 0.001), height (R2 = 0.081, p = 0.009), and aortic DBP (R2 = 0.058, p = 0.022) were independent predictors of the aortic AIx in renal transplant recipients.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that the serum fasting OPG level is associated with the aortic AIx in renal transplant recipients.