Skip Navigation

Cardiovascular Research 1999 41(1):307-311; doi:10.1016/S0008-6363(98)00219-3
© 1999 by European Society of Cardiology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nagai, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Metter, E.J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nagai, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Metter, E.J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Copyright © 1999, European Society of Cardiology

Influence of age and postmenopausal estrogen replacement therapy on carotid arterial stiffness in women1

Yoji Nagaia, Christopher J. Earleyb, Mary K. Kemperb, Carolyn S. Bacalc and E.Jeffrey Mettera,*

aNational Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, Gerontology Research Center – Box 06, Longitudinal Studies Section, 5600 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224-6825, USA
bDepartment of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
cDepartment of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-410-558-8542; fax: +1-410-558-8321.

Objective: This study examines the influence of age and current estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) on common carotid arterial (CCA) stiffness in women. Methods: The subjects comprised 172 women (age 55.6±16.4 years) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, including 37 current postmenopausal ERT users. The ERT users included 18 women taking estrogen alone and 19 women taking estrogen and progesterone. Bilateral CCA were examined by B-mode carotid ultrasonography, and the stiffness index was defined as the logarithm of the ratio of systolic to diastolic blood pressure (BP) divided by the fractional diameter increase during the cardiac cycle. Results: The stiffness index increased linearly with age (r=0.69, p<0.001), and was lower in ERT users than in postmenopausal nonusers (8.0±2.0 vs 9.7±3.1, p<0.01). Furthermore, the effects of age (β=0.67, p<0.0001) and ERT (β=–0.23, p<0.001) on the stiffness index persisted after adjustments for systolic BP (β=0.23, p<0.01), diastolic BP (β=–0.26, p<0.001) and other cardiovascular risk factors (model r2=0.59, p<0.0001). The stiffness index was similar in both ERT users with and without progesterone and lower than in postmenopausal nonusers (p<0.05) after considering the age effects. Conclusion: Age-associated increases in CCA stiffness are reduced by postmenopausal ERT.

KEYWORDS Arteries; Aging; Gender; Hormones; Ultrasound

1 See pages 21–24.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.