Carotid artery longitudinal wall motion alterations associated with metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Our objective was to study relationships between the new biomarker of vascular health, carotid artery longitudinal wall motion (CALM) and metabolic syndrome (MetS). METHODS: Carotid ultrasound and assessment of MetS and its components were performed with 281 subjects aged 30-45 years. In the longitudinal motion analysis, the amplitude of motion and the antegrade-oriented and retrograde-oriented components of motion between the intima-media complex and adventitial layer of the common carotid artery wall were assessed. RESULTS: Metabolic syndrome, according to the harmonized criteria, was detected in 53 subjects (19%). MetS was significantly associated with increased antegrade and decreased retrograde longitudinal motion in the carotid artery wall. Augmented antegrade amplitude of longitudinal motion was associated with obesity (ß = 0.149, p < .05) and low HDL cholesterol (ß = 0.177, p < .01). Attenuated retrograde amplitude of longitudinal motion was associated with hypertension (ß = -0.156, p < .05), obesity (ß = -0.138, p < .05) and hyperinsulinaemia (ß = -0.158, p < .01). Moreover, insulin resistance (homeostasis model assessment index above 2.44) was associated with adverse changes in CALM. CONCLUSION: Metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance were associated with alterations in CALM. In particular, hypertension, obesity and hyperinsulinaemia were associated with reduced total peak-to-peak amplitude as well as increased antegrade and reduced retrograde amplitudes, all of which might be markers of unfavourable vascular health.

Influence of cardiovascular risk factors on longitudinal motion of the common carotid artery wall.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Carotid artery longitudinal wall motion (CALM) is a new biomarker, which can be measured together with carotid intima-media thickness and distensibility measurements in the same session. Our objective was to study the relationship between these indicators of vascular health and cardiovascular risk factors in a large and well-characterized study population. METHODS: The study population consisted of 465 subjects aged 30-45 years. Successful measurements were performed in 287 participants. RESULTS: The peak-to-peak and retrograde amplitudes of the longitudinal motion were inversely correlated with systolic blood pressure (SBP; r = -0.152, p<0.05 and r = -0.189, p<0.01), diastolic blood pressure (DBP; r = -0.170, p<0.01 and r = -0.256, p<0.001) and body mass index (BMI; r = -0.158, p<0.01 and r = -0.291, p<0.001). In addition, retrograde amplitude of longitudinal motion indirectly correlated with total cholesterol and triglycerides (r = -0.163, p<0.01 and r = -0.228, p<0.001, respectively). Amplitude of antegrade longitudinal motion was directly correlated with DBP, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and BMI (r = 0.198-0.274, p<0.001 for all). Antegrade longitudinal motion increased and retrograde longitudinal motion decreased with the increasing number of cardiovascular risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: The magnitude of correlation coefficients between CALM parameters and risk factors was comparable with those for carotid intima-media thickness and distensibility. However, the correlation profile for various risk factors was different and CALM gives additional information regarding arteriosclerosis and risk factors.

Interrelationships between indices of longitudinal movement of the common carotid artery wall and the conventional measures of subclinical arteriosclerosis.

Our objective was to study the interrelationships between longitudinal movement of the wall of the common carotid artery and the conventional measures of arteriosclerosis in a large and well-characterized study population. Successful longitudinal movement analyses were performed on 292 subjects. The peak-to-peak and retrograde amplitudes of the longitudinal movement were directly correlated with carotid artery distensibility (r = 0·21, P<0·001 and r = 0·23, P<0·001, respectively) and inversely correlated with pulse wave velocity (r = -0·14, P<0·05 and r = -0·17, P<0·01, respectively). All longitudinal motion parameters were independent of brachial flow-mediated dilatation and intima-media thickness. Our findings indicate that arterial stiffening modulates longitudinal movement and, therefore, measurement of longitudinal movement can be of value in the assessment of vascular health.