Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Sep 2;11(9):1078.
doi: 10.3390/children11091078.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness Is an Indicator of Arterial Stiffness and Aortic Blood Pressure in Healthy Adolescents

Hwan Kim  1 , Scott R Collier  1 , Valerio Bonavolontà  2 , Austin Lassiter  1 , Seaver Wait  1 , Marco Meucci  1
Affiliations

Cardiorespiratory Fitness Is an Indicator of Arterial Stiffness and Aortic Blood Pressure in Healthy Adolescents

Hwan Kim et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

Background/Objectives: We aimed to investigate the influence of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and body composition on arterial stiffness. Methods: Carotid-to-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and aortic systolic (ASBP) and diastolic (ADBP) blood pressure were compared between upper and lower tertiles of oxygen consumption at the aerobic threshold (VO2AerT), peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak), percentage of fat mass (FM%), and body mass index (BMI) in sixty adolescents (30 males and 30 females, 14.9 ± 2.1 years old). A stepwise multivariable linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the independent associations between VO2AerT and VO2peak and cfPWV, and between BMI and FM% and cfPWV with adjustments for age, sex, ASBP, and ADBP. Results: cfPWV and ADBP were lower in the second and third VO2AerT tertiles compared to the first tertile (cfPWV, 4.7 ± 0.5 and 4.7 ± 0.5 vs. 5.3 ± 0.8 m/s, p < 0.01; ADBP, 62 ± 7 and 62 ± 7 vs. 70 ± 8 mmHg, p < 0.01). ASBP was lower in the third VO2AerT tertile compared to the first tertile (94 ± 7 vs. 101 ± 12 mmHg, p = 0.05). ADBP was lower in the second VO2peak tertile compared to the first tertile (62 ± 7 vs. 68 ± 9 mmHg, p = 0.03). ASBP was lower in the first and second BMI tertiles compared to the third tertile (95 ± 8 and 95 ± 7 vs. 102 ± 11 mmHg, p = 0.02). The eight-variable model significantly contributed to the variance of cfPWV (F(8, 51) = 7.450, p < 0.01), accounting for 47% of the variance. Individually, age (p < 0.05) and ADBP (p < 0.01) significantly predicted cfPWV. Conclusions: Submaximal indicators of CRF such as VO2AerT should be considered as a part of the risk stratification of cardiovascular disease in healthy adolescents.

Keywords: adolescents; body mass index; cardiorespiratory fitness; fat mass; pulse wave velocity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Differences in cardiovascular measures between BMI, FM%, VO2max and VO2AerT tertiles. (A,B), * p < 0.05 compared to the third tertile. (C,D), * p < 0.05 compared to the first tertile.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Differences in cfPWV between LowFM%, MidFM% and HighFM% groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Iannuzzi A., Licenziati M.R., Acampora C., Salvatore V., Auriemma L., Romano M.L., Panico S., Rubba P., Trevisan M. Increased carotid intima-media thickness and stiffness in obese children. Diabetes Care. 2004;27:2506–2508. doi: 10.2337/diacare.27.10.2506. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Litwin M., Feber J., Ruzicka M. Vascular Aging: Lessons From Pediatric Hypertension. Can. J. Cardiol. 2016;32:642–649. doi: 10.1016/j.cjca.2016.02.064. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Berenson G.S. Childhood risk factors predict adult risk associated with subclinical cardiovascular disease: The Bogalusa Heart Study. Am. J. Cardiol. 2002;90:L3–L7. doi: 10.1016/S0002-9149(02)02953-3. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Biro F.M., Wien M. Childhood obesity and adult morbidities. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2010;91:1499S–1505S. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.28701B. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dangardt F., Charakida M., Georgiopoulos G., Chiesa S.T., Rapala A., Wade K.H., Hughes A.D., Timpson N.J., Pateras K., Finer N., et al. Association between fat mass through adolescence and arterial stiffness: A population-based study from The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Lancet Child. Adolesc. Health. 2019;3:474–481. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30105-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources