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Association of coronary calcium score with endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness

Torngren, Kristina LU ; Rylance, Rebecca LU ; Björk, Jonas LU ; Engström, Gunnar LU ; Frantz, Sophia LU ; Marko-Varga, György LU ; Melander, Olle LU orcid ; Nihlen, Ulf LU ; Olsson, Henric LU and Planck, Maria LU , et al. (2020) In Atherosclerosis 313. p.70-75
Abstract

Background and aims: The aim of the study was to determine potential associations between endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness, measured by peripheral arterial tonometry, and coronary artery calcium score (CACS) assessed by computed tomography (CT). Methods and results: The BIG3 study is a prospective longitudinal, non-interventional, pulmonary-cardiovascular cohort study exploring the three major smoking-induced diseases: cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer, in a 45–75 aged cohort (mean 62 years), enriched in smokers. Computed tomography of the chest with assessment of CACS was performed in a selected subset of the participants (n = 2080). Peripheral arterial tonometry (EndoPAT) was... (More)

Background and aims: The aim of the study was to determine potential associations between endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness, measured by peripheral arterial tonometry, and coronary artery calcium score (CACS) assessed by computed tomography (CT). Methods and results: The BIG3 study is a prospective longitudinal, non-interventional, pulmonary-cardiovascular cohort study exploring the three major smoking-induced diseases: cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer, in a 45–75 aged cohort (mean 62 years), enriched in smokers. Computed tomography of the chest with assessment of CACS was performed in a selected subset of the participants (n = 2080). Peripheral arterial tonometry (EndoPAT) was used to assess endothelial function and arterial stiffness measured as reactive hyperaemia index (RHI) and augmentation index (AI), respectively. We observed significant associations of CACS, endothelial dysfunction, and arterial stiffness with several risk factors for coronary heart disease including age, sex, BMI, diabetes mellitus, and blood pressure. There was significant association of CACS, classified into three levels of severity, with RHI and AI (p = 0.0005 and p = 0.0009, respectively). For groups of increasing CACS (0, 1–400 and > 400 Agatston score), RHI decreased from median 1.89 (1.58–2.39), and 1.93 (1.62–2.41) to 1.77 (1.51–2.10). AI increased from median 14.3 (5.7–25.2), and 16.4 (8.1–27.6) to 18.0 (9.1–29.2). RHI, but not AI, remained significantly associated with CACS after risk factors adjustment. Conclusions: In this large study of coronary artery calcium and vascular function, we found an association between CACS and both endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness, indicating that they may reflect similar mechanisms for development of cardiovascular disease.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Atherosclerosis, Cardiovascular disease, Computed tomography, Endothelial function
in
Atherosclerosis
volume
313
pages
6 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:33032235
  • scopus:85091934790
ISSN
0021-9150
DOI
10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2020.09.022
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
362050c8-e200-4a71-a82e-a7e1e8f3c328
date added to LUP
2020-10-29 13:28:20
date last changed
2024-04-17 17:27:19
@article{362050c8-e200-4a71-a82e-a7e1e8f3c328,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background and aims: The aim of the study was to determine potential associations between endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness, measured by peripheral arterial tonometry, and coronary artery calcium score (CACS) assessed by computed tomography (CT). Methods and results: The BIG3 study is a prospective longitudinal, non-interventional, pulmonary-cardiovascular cohort study exploring the three major smoking-induced diseases: cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer, in a 45–75 aged cohort (mean 62 years), enriched in smokers. Computed tomography of the chest with assessment of CACS was performed in a selected subset of the participants (n = 2080). Peripheral arterial tonometry (EndoPAT) was used to assess endothelial function and arterial stiffness measured as reactive hyperaemia index (RHI) and augmentation index (AI), respectively. We observed significant associations of CACS, endothelial dysfunction, and arterial stiffness with several risk factors for coronary heart disease including age, sex, BMI, diabetes mellitus, and blood pressure. There was significant association of CACS, classified into three levels of severity, with RHI and AI (p = 0.0005 and p = 0.0009, respectively). For groups of increasing CACS (0, 1–400 and &gt; 400 Agatston score), RHI decreased from median 1.89 (1.58–2.39), and 1.93 (1.62–2.41) to 1.77 (1.51–2.10). AI increased from median 14.3 (5.7–25.2), and 16.4 (8.1–27.6) to 18.0 (9.1–29.2). RHI, but not AI, remained significantly associated with CACS after risk factors adjustment. Conclusions: In this large study of coronary artery calcium and vascular function, we found an association between CACS and both endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness, indicating that they may reflect similar mechanisms for development of cardiovascular disease.</p>}},
  author       = {{Torngren, Kristina and Rylance, Rebecca and Björk, Jonas and Engström, Gunnar and Frantz, Sophia and Marko-Varga, György and Melander, Olle and Nihlen, Ulf and Olsson, Henric and Planck, Maria and Wennersten, André and Malmqvist, Ulf and Erlinge, David}},
  issn         = {{0021-9150}},
  keywords     = {{Atherosclerosis; Cardiovascular disease; Computed tomography; Endothelial function}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{70--75}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Atherosclerosis}},
  title        = {{Association of coronary calcium score with endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2020.09.022}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2020.09.022}},
  volume       = {{313}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}