Pulse wave velocity and central aortic pressure in systolic blood pressure intervention trial participants

Arterial stiffness, typically assessed as the aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV), and central blood pressure levels may be indicators of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. This ancillary study to the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) obtained baseline assessments (at randomization) of PWV and central systolic blood pressure (C-SBP) to: 1) characterize these vascular measurements in the SPRINT cohort, and 2) test the hypotheses that PWV and C-SBP are associated with glucose homeostasis and markers of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The SphygmoCor® CPV device was used to assess carotid-femoral PWV and its pulse wave analysis study protocol was used to obtain C-SBP. Valid results were obtained from 652 participants. Mean (±SD) PWV and C-SBP for the SPRINT cohort were 10.7 ± 2.7 m/s and 132.0 ± 17.9 mm Hg respectively. Linear regression analyses for PWV and C-SBP results adjusted for age, sex, and race/ethnicity in relation to several markers of glucose homeostasis and CKD did not identify any significant associations with the exception of a marginally statistically significant and modest association between PWV and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (linear regression estimate ± SE, 0.001 ± 0.0006; P-value 0.046). In a subset of SPRINT participants, PWV was significantly higher than in prior studies of normotensive persons, as expected. For older age groups in the SPRINT cohort (age > 60 years), PWV was compared with a reference population of hypertensive individuals. There were no compelling associations noted between PWV or C-SBP and markers of glucose homeostasis or CKD.Clinical Trial Registration: NCT01206062.