Assessment of Aortic Pulse Wave Velocity and Cardiac Diastolic Function in Subjects With and Without the Metabolic Syndrome HDL cholesterol is independently associated with cardiovascular function

OBJECTIVE — To evaluate the influence of lipid and glucose metabolism in the metabolic syndrome on aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) and left ventricular (LV) diastolic function using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). RESEARCH DESIGN ANDMETHODS — Aortic PWV and LV diastolic function were assessed using MRI in 16 subjects with the metabolic syndrome and 16 subjects without the metabolic syndrome matched for age, waist circumference, and blood pressure. The groups were compared using the unpaired t test or Mann-Whitney U test, and linear regression analysis was applied. RESULTS — Aortic PWV was increased and LV diastolic function was decreased in subjects with compared with those without the metabolic syndrome. HDL cholesterol was independently associated with aortic PWV (R0.470, P 0.01) and LV diastolic function (R0.421, P 0.02). CONCLUSIONS — Increased aortic PWV and decreased LV diastolic function is observed in subjects with the metabolic syndrome, regardless of blood pressure. Moreover, HDL cholesterol is independently associated with aortic PWV and LV diastolic function. Diabetes Care 31:1442–1444, 2008 P revious studies have demonstratedthat the metabolic syndrome is asso-ciated with increased arterial stiff-ness and left ventricular (LV) dysfunction (1,2). However, the exact mechanism re-sponsible for these alterations is unclear and has not yet been studied with mag-netic resonance imaging (MRI). We hy-pothesized that abnormalities in lipid or glucose metabolism contribute to the ad-verse cardiovascular changes in the meta-bolic syndrome. Accordingly, the study purpose was to compare aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) and LV function using MRI in subjects with and without the met-abolic syndrome and to evaluate the rela-t ion be tween l ip id and g lucose metabolism and cardiovascular function. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS — MRI examination was performed in 16 Caucasian male subjects with recently diagnosed, untreated meta-bolic syndrome (per International Diabe-tes Federation criteria) and 16 Caucasian male subjects without the metabolic syn