Aortic stiffness and microalbuminuria in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain a major leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Increased aortic stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease. Microalbuminuria (MAU) reflects increased permeability of the glomerulus, usually due to microvascular damage and suggested as an early prognostic cardiovascular marker. So this study was done to determine the prevalence of aortic stiffness in patients with COPD and to evaluate the relationship of MAU levels with the degree of aortic stiffness. Subjects and methods: This study was done at Respirology, Cardiology, Internal Medicine, and Clinical Pathology Departments, Farwaniya Hospital, Ministry of Health, State of Kuwait in the period between July 2013 and October 2014. A total 60 patients was distributed into 38 patients with COPD (group 1) and 22 control subjects (group 2). Patients with COPD and controls underwent spirometry, blood pressure, aortic stiffness assessment using aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) study and provided a spot urine sample for MAU measurement. Results: Patients with COPD (group 1) had increased aortic stiffness compared with matched controls (group 2) 11.2 ± 2.3 vs. 7.8 ± 1.5 m/s, P < 0.05. Patients with GOLD III and IV had significant higher aPWV values as compared to patients with GOLD I and II (P < 0.05). Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that the adjusted odds ratios of having MAU for aPWV quartile III and IV were 6.38 (95% confidence interval: 2.37–13.2) and 6.58 (95% confidence interval: 1.59–22.0) respectively, P < 0.05. Conclusions: COPD is associated with increased aortic stiffness. MAU is independently related to aortic stiffness in patients with COPD. Further studies are necessary to investigate whether MAU could be an effective biomarker of aortic stiffness and potential cardiovascular compromise in patients with COPD