TY - JOUR
T1 - Lung function is associated with arterial stiffness in children
AU - Ayer, Julian G.
AU - Belousova, Elena G.
AU - Harmer, Jason A.
AU - Toelle, Brett
AU - Celermajer, David S.
AU - Marks, Guy B.
N1 - Copyright the Author(s) 2011. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.
PY - 2011/10/25
Y1 - 2011/10/25
N2 - Background: In older adults, an independent association exists between impaired lung function and cardiovascular disease. This interaction might be related to the effects of aging and/or smoking. In order to explore possible childhood antecedents to this association, we hypothesized that decreased lung function and vascular stiffness might be related, in early life.Objective: To determine the relationship between lung function and carotid augmentation index (AIx), a measure of vascular stiffness, in 8-year old children.Methods: Data on brachial blood pressure, lung function (FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, obtained by spirometry) and carotid AIx75 (AIx standardised to an arbitrary heart rate of 75 beats per minute, obtained by applanation tonometry) was available in 249 community-based 8-year old children. These healthy children had been subjects in a randomised controlled trial of two interventions (omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and house-dust mite avoidance) to prevent asthma. Smoking in pregnancy and childhood environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure was prospectively collected by questionnaire. The association between lung function and carotid AIx75 was assessed in multivariate models that included sex, height, smoking status during pregnancy, ETS exposure and randomisation groups (house dust mite avoidance and dietary intervention) as covariates.Results: In the fully adjusted models, Carotid AIx75 was independently associated with FEV1 (standardised β= -0.17, b= 26.72, partial R2 = .02, p = 0.03), FVC (standardised β= -0.29, b = -9.31, partial R2 = 0.04, p < 0.001) and FEV1/FVC (standardised β= .13, b = 18.4, partial R2 = 0.02, p = 0.04).Conclusion: Lower lung volumes are associated with increased vascular stiffness at an early age. The interaction between lung function and vascular stiffness may thus represent more than just age-related alterations in both the pulmonary and vascular systems.
AB - Background: In older adults, an independent association exists between impaired lung function and cardiovascular disease. This interaction might be related to the effects of aging and/or smoking. In order to explore possible childhood antecedents to this association, we hypothesized that decreased lung function and vascular stiffness might be related, in early life.Objective: To determine the relationship between lung function and carotid augmentation index (AIx), a measure of vascular stiffness, in 8-year old children.Methods: Data on brachial blood pressure, lung function (FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, obtained by spirometry) and carotid AIx75 (AIx standardised to an arbitrary heart rate of 75 beats per minute, obtained by applanation tonometry) was available in 249 community-based 8-year old children. These healthy children had been subjects in a randomised controlled trial of two interventions (omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and house-dust mite avoidance) to prevent asthma. Smoking in pregnancy and childhood environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure was prospectively collected by questionnaire. The association between lung function and carotid AIx75 was assessed in multivariate models that included sex, height, smoking status during pregnancy, ETS exposure and randomisation groups (house dust mite avoidance and dietary intervention) as covariates.Results: In the fully adjusted models, Carotid AIx75 was independently associated with FEV1 (standardised β= -0.17, b= 26.72, partial R2 = .02, p = 0.03), FVC (standardised β= -0.29, b = -9.31, partial R2 = 0.04, p < 0.001) and FEV1/FVC (standardised β= .13, b = 18.4, partial R2 = 0.02, p = 0.04).Conclusion: Lower lung volumes are associated with increased vascular stiffness at an early age. The interaction between lung function and vascular stiffness may thus represent more than just age-related alterations in both the pulmonary and vascular systems.
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0026303
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0026303
M3 - Article
C2 - 22046271
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 6
SP - 1
EP - 4
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 10
M1 - e26303
ER -