significantly greater than their normal-weight peers, according to a longitudinal study published online in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Dr. Robert H. Eckel
The study evaluated 448 adolescents over 5 years for changes in a variety of metrics to determine changes in arterial structure, including carotid intima media thickness (cIMT), carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity (PWV), and augmentation index (Aix). The average age of the study group was 17.6 years. The three study groups broke down accordingly: 141 with normal weight, 156 with obesity, and 151 with type 2 diabetes. Patients were evaluated at baseline and 5 years later.
“The presence of obesity and especially type 2 diabetes in adolescents accelerates the early vascular aging process associated with several key risk factors,” wrote Justin R. Ryder, PhD, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and colleagues.
The researchers also noted that systolic hypertension was associated with changes in cIMT and arterial stiffness comparable to obesity and diabetes. “These data add further evidence underscoring the importance of efforts targeting prevention and treatment of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and elevated blood pressure among youth, with a goal of delaying and/or preventing the progression of early vascular aging,” Dr. Ryder and colleagues wrote.
Obese patients, when compared with normal-weight participants, had the following average increases: common cIMT by 0.05 mm, bulb cIMT by 0.02 mm, internal cIMT by 0.03 mm, and PWV carotid-femoral by 0.38 m/sec, all statistically significant differences. Patients with diabetes, compared with normal-weight participants, registered the following average increases: common cIMT by 0.05 mm, bulb cIMT by 0.06 mm, internal cIMT by 0.04 mm, Aix by 4.67%, and PWV carotid-femoral by 0.74 m/sec. All differences were highly significant at P less than .001.
The results also showed that higher baseline systolic blood pressure was associated with significantly greater average increases in the following factors: common cIMT by 0.007 mm, bulb cIMT by 0.009 mm, internal cIMT by 0.008 mm, and PWV carotid-femoral by 0.66 m/sec.
Drilling down into the data, the study reported that males had greater increases in bulb cIMT and incremental elastic modulus as well as reduced Aix, compared with females. Nonwhites also had greater increases in bulb cIMT than did whites. Age was associated with greater increases in bulb and internal cIMT and Aix.
“Our data support the concept that male sex is an independent and primary risk factor for accelerated early vascular aging,” Dr. Ryder and colleagues wrote. The study also determined that type 2 diabetes is a more prominent risk factor than obesity for early vascular aging.
The size of the study population, specifically adolescents with diabetes, is a study strength, Dr. Ryder and colleagues noted. Other strengths they pointed to are the 5-year duration and the robust panel of noninvasive measures, although not using hard cardiovascular outcomes is an acknowledged limitation.
“It should also be noted that many of the youth with type 2 diabetes were on medications for glycemic control, lipids, and/or blood pressure regulation,” Dr. Ryder and colleagues wrote. “Despite this, the vascular profiles worsened over time.”
The study showed “a really significant change” in the carotid anatomy in adolescents with obesity and type 2 diabetes over 5 years, Robert Eckel, MD, professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, said in an interview. “Notably, the PWV is not just anatomy; now we’re talking about function. In other words, the augmentation index and PWV will assess the compliance of the artery.”
The findings suggest that atherosclerosis begins with thickening of the arterial walls. “The question is, is thickness reversible?” Dr. Eckel said. “It’s probably not very reversible, so these are early changes that ultimately in the middle years or latter years are associated with major cardiovascular disease.”
They key lesson from the study, Dr. Eckel noted, is to “prevent obesity. If you prevent obesity in the teenage years, you basically prevent diabetes.”
Dr. Ryder disclosed receiving support from Boehringer Ingelheim in the form of drug/placebo. The National Institutes of Health provided funding. Dr. Eckel has no relevant relationships to disclose.
SOURCE: Ryder JR et al. J Am Heart Assoc. 2020 May 6:e014891. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.119.014891.