Favorable cardiovascular risk factor profile is associated with reduced prevalence of coronary artery calcification and inflammation in asymptomatic nondiabetic white men.

ABSTRACT

Middle-aged individuals with favorable levels of all major cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) have much lower age-specific risks for incident cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the relationship of the absence of CVRFs with subclinical CVD and inflammation is not well described. We classified 440 asymptomatic Brazilian men (aged 46+/-7 years) based on the number of CVRFs (smoking, systolic blood pressure > or =130 mm Hg, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol > or =130 mg/dL, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol <40 mg/dL, triglycerides > or =150 mg/dL, fasting glucose > or =100 mg/dL, and waist circumference >102 cm). Only 7% had no CVRFs, whereas 1, 2, 3, and > or =4 CVRFs were observed in 18%, 24%, 21%, and 29%, respectively. In age-adjusted analysis, each lower CVRF profile was associated with lower odds of prevalent coronary artery calcium (odds ratio, 0.75; P=.002) and elevated white blood cell count (odds ratio, 0.70; P<.001). Our study supports the notion that a favorable CVD profile is associated with less underlying atherosclerosis and inflammation and further highlights the importance of primary prevention of CVRFs.