Gender influence on metabolic syndrome's effects on arterial stiffness and pressure wave reflections in treated hypertensive subjects

Abstract Background In hypertensive subjects, aortic stiffness, an independent predictor of cardiovascular (CV) risk, measured from pulse wave velocity (PWV), contributes to enhance augmentation index (AI), a marker of the timing and amplitude of wave reflections. Whether PWV and AI are correlated and reflect CV risk in hypertensive men and women with metabolic syndrome (MS) remains unknown. Methods In a cohort of 613 (364 males) treated hypertensive subjects with and without MS (41% MS) pulse wave analysis was used to determine aortic PWV and carotid AI. CV risk was estimated from standard Framingham equations. Results In females, but not in males, aortic PWV was higher in subjects with MS, when compared with those without MS (12.7 ± 0.3 m/s versus 11.1 ± 0.4 m/s, p Conclusion In treated hypertensive subjects, the effect of MS on PWV and AI is modulated by gender. The dissociation between PWV and AI observed in women with MS was due to “blunted” wave reflections. This finding is associated with the fact that PWV, but not AI, was a constant marker of CV risk in subjects with MS, whether men and women.