Parental arterial stiffness ups risk for offspring arterial stiffness

Both paternal and maternal brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) are positively associated with baPWV in their offspring, reveals a study.

This study included individuals who participated in the second or subsequent follow-up and had parent-offspring relationship and completed measurements of baPWV from the Kailuan study. Participants were divided into groups by the 10-year intervals and sex. Arterial stiffness was defined as the 75th percentiles in each age category.

The authors analysed the effect of parental baPWV and blood pressure in offspring using multivariable generalized estimating equations. They also analysed the effect of parental arterial stiffness in children through multivariable logistic regression using generalized estimating equations.

A total of 4,514 parents and offspring met the eligibility criteria, including 1,785 paternal offspring (mean age 36.26 years, mean baPWV 1,294.40 cm/s) and 625 maternal offspring (mean age 36.42 years, mean baPWV 1,270.74 cm/s).

Multivariate linear regression analyses revealed an increase of 0.05 and 0.30 cm/s in offspring baPWV for every increase of 1 cm/s in the paternal and maternal baPWV, respectively, after adjusting for covariate risk factors. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, the risk of arterial stiffness increased by 50 percent and 77 percent in the offspring of paternal and maternal arterial stiffness, respectively.

“Parental arterial stiffness is a risk factor for arterial stiffness of offspring and is independent of traditional risk factors of offspring arterial stiffness,” the authors said.