Modification of the Glycemic Status on Aortic Distensibility by Age in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Background: Elevated serum glucose from diabetes mellitus (DM) or impaired fasting glucose (IFG) shares many mechanisms with aging that decrease aortic distensibility (AD), such as glycation of the extra-cellular matrix. However, little data compares the simultaneous effects of elevated serum glucose and aging on AD. To study this, we examined the relationship between fasting glucose status, age, and AD in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA): a multi-ethnic cohort of individuals aged 45-84 years without clinical cardiovascular disease. Methods: In MESA, participants with normal fasting glucose (NFG; n = 2270), IFG (n = 870), and DM (n = 412) underwent MRI assessment of proximal thoracic aortic distensibility. This sample was 46% male, 42% white, 30% AA, 11% Asian, and 17% Hispanic. The relationship between glucose status, age, and AD was analyzed with general linear models by adjusting for factors influential on AD. An interaction term was used to determine if age modified the effect of glucose status on AD. Results: AD was lowest among those with DM. The interaction term was significant (p = 0.024). Comparing participants less than 65 years of age, AD was different between NFG and DM (p < 0.01), and between NFG and IFG (p = 0.02). In those older than 65, fasting glucose group was no longer a significant predictor of AD. Conclusions: Our data indicate that there are overall differences in AD between DM, IFG, and NFG. However, age modified the effect of glucose status such that differences between the groups diminished with advancing age.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Stacey, Richard

• Diabetes Mellitus

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/14850

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/14850