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Effects of Arterial Stiffness on Brain Integrity in Young Adults From the Framingham Heart Study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Previous work from the Framingham Heart Study suggests that brain changes because of arterial aging may begin in young adulthood and that such changes precede cognitive deficits. The objective of this study was to determine the association of arterial stiffness with measures of white matter and gray matter (GM) integrity in young adults. METHODS:One thousand nine hundred three participants from the Framingham Heart Study Third Generation (mean age, 46±8.7 years) had complete tonometry measurements and brain magnetic resonance imaging (T1-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging). Tonometry measures included carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, augmentation index, carotid-brachial pressure amplification, and central pulse pressure. Fractional anisotropy and GM density images were computed from diffusion tensor imaging and T1 images. Registration to a common anatomic template enabled voxel-based linear regressions relating measures of fractional anisotropy and GM to tonometry measures, adjusting for relevant covariables. RESULTS:Higher carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity was associated with lower regional fractional anisotropy, including the corpus callosum and the corona radiata (8.7 and 8.6 cc, respectively, P<0.001), as well as lower GM density in the thalamus region (0.9 cc, P<0.001). Analyses did not reveal significant associations between other tonometry measures and fractional anisotropy or GM. CONCLUSIONS:Among young healthy adults, higher aortic stiffness was associated with measures of reduced white matter and GM integrity in areas implicated in cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. Greater aortic stiffness may result in subclinical vascular brain injury at ages much younger than previously described.

SUBMITTER: Maillard P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4811686 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effects of Arterial Stiffness on Brain Integrity in Young Adults From the Framingham Heart Study.

Maillard Pauline P Mitchell Gary F GF Himali Jayandra J JJ Beiser Alexa A Tsao Connie W CW Pase Matthew P MP Satizabal Claudia L CL Vasan Ramachandran S RS Seshadri Sudha S DeCarli Charles C

Stroke 20160310 4

<h4>Background and purpose</h4>Previous work from the Framingham Heart Study suggests that brain changes because of arterial aging may begin in young adulthood and that such changes precede cognitive deficits. The objective of this study was to determine the association of arterial stiffness with measures of white matter and gray matter (GM) integrity in young adults.<h4>Methods</h4>One thousand nine hundred three participants from the Framingham Heart Study Third Generation (mean age, 46±8.7 ye ...[more]

PMID: 26965846

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Project description:About one quarter of adults are hypertensive and high blood pressure carries increased risk for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and death. Increased arterial stiffness is a key factor in the pathogenesis of systolic hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Substantial heritability of blood-pressure (BP) and arterial-stiffness suggests important genetic contributions.In Framingham Heart Study families, we analyzed genome-wide SNP (Affymetrix 100K GeneChip) associations with systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) BP at a single examination in 1971-1975 (n = 1260), at a recent examination in 1998-2001 (n = 1233), and long-term averaged SBP and DBP from 1971-2001 (n = 1327, mean age 52 years, 54% women) and with arterial stiffness measured by arterial tonometry (carotid-femoral and carotid-brachial pulse wave velocity, forward and reflected pressure wave amplitude, and mean arterial pressure; 1998-2001, n = 644). In primary analyses we used generalized estimating equations in models for an additive genetic effect to test associations between SNPs and phenotypes of interest using multivariable-adjusted residuals. A total of 70,987 autosomal SNPs with minor allele frequency > or = 0.10, genotype call rate > or = 0.80, and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium p > or = 0.001 were analyzed. We also tested for association of 69 SNPs in six renin-angiotensin-aldosterone pathway genes with BP and arterial stiffness phenotypes as part of a candidate gene search.In the primary analyses, none of the associations attained genome-wide significance. For the six BP phenotypes, seven SNPs yielded p values < 10(-5). The lowest p-values for SBP and DBP respectively were rs10493340 (p = 1.7 x 10(-6)) and rs1963982 (p = 3.3 x 10(-6)). For the five tonometry phenotypes, five SNPs had p values < 10(-5); lowest p-values were for reflected wave (rs6063312, p = 2.1 x 10(-6)) and carotid-brachial pulse wave velocity (rs770189, p = 2.5 x 10(-6)) in MEF2C, a regulator of cardiac morphogenesis. We found only weak association of SNPs in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone pathway with BP or arterial stiffness.These results of genome-wide association testing for blood pressure and arterial stiffness phenotypes in an unselected community-based sample of adults may aid in the identification of the genetic basis of hypertension and arterial disease, help identify high risk individuals, and guide novel therapies for hypertension. Additional studies are needed to replicate any associations identified in these analyses.

Dataset Information

Effects of Arterial Stiffness on Brain Integrity in Young Adults From the Framingham Heart Study.

Publications

Effects of Arterial Stiffness on Brain Integrity in Young Adults From the Framingham Heart Study.

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