Metabolic syndrome ups risk of arterial stiffness

A clinically significant association exists between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and pulse wave velocity (PWV), as well as an increasing trend in PWV values for each increase in MetS-related cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs), according to a study.

Moderate effect size estimates were noted between MetS and PWV (0.68, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.54–0.82), with a slightly higher effect size for the low-risk (0.75, 95 percent CI, 0.58–0.92) vs the high-risk population group (0.52, 95 percent CI, 0.32–0.82).

There was also a trend between the number of MetS-related CMRFs and PWV, with the pooled effect size almost growing twofold as the number of MetS-related CMRFs increased (for one MetS-related CMRF: 0.11, 95 percent CI, 0.04–0.17; for two: 0.26, 95 percent CI, 0.13–0.4; for three or more: 0.4, 95 percent CI, 0.2–0.6).

“Although these results should be considered cautiously because of the considerable heterogeneity, our findings reinforce the rationale of MetS as an aggregation of risk factors with common causes, which could provide additional useful information to guide clinical management,” the investigators said.

This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesized the evidence on the association between the clustering of MetS-related CMRFs and arterial stiffness measured using PWV. The investigators calculated pooled effect size estimates and their respective 95 percent CIs using the DerSimonian and Laird method for two separate analyses: the diagnosis of MetS and PWV values and the number of CMRFs and PWV values.

“MetS is a cluster of different CMRFs, and its different combinations with other CMRFs, such as arterial stiffness have been hypothesized to explain, at least partially, increased risk of cardiovascular disease,” the investigators said.