Utility of estimated pulse wave velocity for assessing vascular stiffness: comparison of methods
- German Aerospace Center, Germany
- University Hospital Cologne, Germany
- University of Málaga, Spain
Abstract
Background: Pulse wave velocity independently predicts cardiovascular risk. Easy to use single cuff oscillometric methods are utilized in clinical practice to estimate pulse wave velocity. We applied the approach in master athletes to assess possible beneficial effects of lifelong exercise on vascular health. Furthermore, we compared single cuff measurements with a two-cuff method in another cohort.
Methods: We obtained single cuff upper arm oscillometric measurements thrice in 129 master athletes aged 35 to 86 years and estimated pulse wave velocity using the ArcSolver algorithm. We applied the same method in 24 healthy persons aged 24 to 55 years participating in a head down tilt bedrest study. In the latter group, we also obtained direct pulse wave velocity measurements using a thigh cuff.
Results: Estimated pulse velocity very highly correlated with age (R2 = 0.90) in master athletes. Estimated pulse wave velocity values were located on the same regression line like values obtained in participants of the head down tilt bed rest study. The modest correlation between estimated and measured PWV (r2 0.40; p<0.05) was attenuated after adjusting for age; the mean difference between pulse wave velocity measurements was 1 m/s.
Conclusion: Estimated pulse wave velocity mainly reflects the entered age rather than true vascular properties and, therefore, failed detecting beneficial effects of life long exercise.
Funding: The AGBRESA-Study was funded by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the European Space Agency (ESA, contract number 4000113871/15/NL/PG) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, contract number 80JSC018P0078). FH received funding by the DLR and the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology, BMWi (50WB1816). SM, JT and JJ were supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, BMK (SPACE4ALL Project, FFG No. 866761).
Data availability
As we obtained personal health data from human subjects, we cannot make their raw data publicly available. However, an interested researcher is able to access the original data by sending a project proposal to the corresponding author. This project proposal will be reviewed by the medical board of the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine. If the project is scientifically valuable, the committee decides to what extent the original data can be made available. Commercial research is excluded from this option. The syntax used for statistical analysis and the numerical data used to generate the figures are stored in Dryad: doi:10.5061/dryad.8931zcrsb#
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Estimated pulse wave velocity is of limited utility to assess vascular stiffnessDryad Digital Repository, doi:10.5061/dryad.8931zcrsb.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
German Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology (50WB1816)
- Fabian Hoffmann
Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (FFG No. 866761)
- Stefan Möstl
- Jens Tank
- Jens Jordan
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Reviewing Editor
- Carmel M McEniery, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Ethics
Human subjects: All subjects provided informed consent and consent to publish before enrollment. The bedrest study as well as the study in master athletes were approved by the Northrine-Medical-Association (Ärztekammer Nordrhein, 2018143 and 2018171) ethics committee and registered at the German Clinical Trial Register (DRKS00015677 and DRKS00015172)
Version history
- Received: August 27, 2021
- Preprint posted: January 13, 2022 (view preprint)
- Accepted: May 1, 2022
- Accepted Manuscript published: May 3, 2022 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: May 11, 2022 (version 2)
Copyright
© 2022, Möstl et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Utility of estimated pulse wave velocity for assessing vascular stiffness: comparison of methods
eLife 11:e73428.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.73428
Further reading
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- Medicine
- Microbiology and Infectious Disease
Background:
End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients experience immune compromise characterized by complex alterations of both innate and adaptive immunity, and results in higher susceptibility to infection and lower response to vaccination. This immune compromise, coupled with greater risk of exposure to infectious disease at hemodialysis (HD) centers, underscores the need for examination of the immune response to the COVID-19 mRNA-based vaccines.
Methods:
The immune response to the COVID-19 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine was assessed in 20 HD patients and cohort-matched controls. RNA sequencing of peripheral blood mononuclear cells was performed longitudinally before and after each vaccination dose for a total of six time points per subject. Anti-spike antibody levels were quantified prior to the first vaccination dose (V1D0) and 7 d after the second dose (V2D7) using anti-spike IgG titers and antibody neutralization assays. Anti-spike IgG titers were additionally quantified 6 mo after initial vaccination. Clinical history and lab values in HD patients were obtained to identify predictors of vaccination response.
Results:
Transcriptomic analyses demonstrated differing time courses of immune responses, with prolonged myeloid cell activity in HD at 1 wk after the first vaccination dose. HD also demonstrated decreased metabolic activity and decreased antigen presentation compared to controls after the second vaccination dose. Anti-spike IgG titers and neutralizing function were substantially elevated in both controls and HD at V2D7, with a small but significant reduction in titers in HD groups (p<0.05). Anti-spike IgG remained elevated above baseline at 6 mo in both subject groups. Anti-spike IgG titers at V2D7 were highly predictive of 6-month titer levels. Transcriptomic biomarkers after the second vaccination dose and clinical biomarkers including ferritin levels were found to be predictive of antibody development.
Conclusions:
Overall, we demonstrate differing time courses of immune responses to the BTN162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in maintenance HD subjects comparable to healthy controls and identify transcriptomic and clinical predictors of anti-spike IgG titers in HD. Analyzing vaccination as an in vivo perturbation, our results warrant further characterization of the immune dysregulation of ESRD.
Funding:
F30HD102093, F30HL151182, T32HL144909, R01HL138628. This research has been funded by the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) award UL1TR002003.
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- Medicine
Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a link between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) near the MBOAT7 gene and advanced liver diseases. Specifically, the common MBOAT7 variant (rs641738) associated with reduced MBOAT7 expression is implicated in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), and liver fibrosis. However, the precise mechanism underlying MBOAT7-driven liver disease progression remains elusive. Previously, we identified MBOAT7-driven acylation of lysophosphatidylinositol lipids as key mechanism suppressing the progression of NAFLD (Gwag et al., 2019). Here, we show that MBOAT7 loss of function promotes ALD via reorganization of lysosomal lipid homeostasis. Circulating levels of MBOAT7 metabolic products are significantly reduced in heavy drinkers compared to healthy controls. Hepatocyte- (Mboat7-HSKO), but not myeloid-specific (Mboat7-MSKO), deletion of Mboat7 exacerbates ethanol-induced liver injury. Lipidomic profiling reveals a reorganization of the hepatic lipidome in Mboat7-HSKO mice, characterized by increased endosomal/lysosomal lipids. Ethanol-exposed Mboat7-HSKO mice exhibit dysregulated autophagic flux and lysosomal biogenesis, associated with impaired transcription factor EB-mediated lysosomal biogenesis and autophagosome accumulation. This study provides mechanistic insights into how MBOAT7 influences ALD progression through dysregulation of lysosomal biogenesis and autophagic flux, highlighting hepatocyte-specific MBOAT7 loss as a key driver of ethanol-induced liver injury.
