Relationship between ambulatory arterial stiffness index and the severity of angiographic atherosclerosis in patients with H-type hypertension and coronary artery disease

ABSTRACT

Objective

To investigate coronary artery disease (CAD) and its correlation with the ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) in patients with H-type hypertension (essential hypertension combined with hyper-homocysteinemia) and coronary heart disease (CHD).

Methods

Patients with essential hypertension and CHD who were undergoing coronary angiography were enrolled. The general clinical data, biochemical indicators, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring results and coronary angiography results of the selected patients were collected, and the AASI and Gensini scores were calculated. According to homocysteine (Hcy) levels, the patients were divided into two groups: a study group and a control group. The differences in general clinical data, biochemical indexes, AASI scores and degree of coronary artery lesions between the two groups were compared. The correlation between the AASI and the Gensini score and the relationship between the AASI and the Gensini score of CAD and various factors were analyzed.

Results

Compared with the control group, the Hcy level in the study group was significantly increased (8.16 ± 2.33 vs 19.20 ± 2.36, P = .001). The 24-h diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in the study group was significantly lower than that in the control group (76.38 ± 9.33 vs 79.91 ± 9.25, P = .002), and the AASI was significantly higher than in the control group (0.62 ± 0.81 vs 0.420 ± 0.70, P = .001). The number of patients having coronary stenoses with a Gensini score of ≤ 38 was significantly lower in the study group than in the control group (21.3% vs 49.4%, P < .001). The number of patients with a Gensini score of ≥ 51 in the study group was significantly higher than in the control group (22.0% vs 18.8%, P < .001). There was a significant positive correlation between the AASI and the Gensini score in the study group (R = 0.732, P < .001). Hypertension duration (β = 0.168), diabetes history (β = 0.236), 24-h SBP (β = 0.122), 24-h DBP (β = -0.131), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (β = 0.134) and Hcy (β = 0.233) were the influencing factors for AASI (P < .05). Both Hcy * AASI (β = 0.356) and Hcy × 24-h HR (β = 0.331) had a synergistic effect on the Gensini score (P = .017), with Hcy * AASI having a more significant effect on the Gensini score (P < .001).

Conclusion

The AASI was significantly increased in patients with H-type hypertension and CHD, which was associated with the severity of CAD. Therefore, Hcy levels and the AASI have a synergistic effect when evaluating the severity of CAD in patients with hypertensive CHD.

KEYWORDS:

• H-type hypertension
• ambulatory arterial stiffness index
• Gensini score
• coronary artery disease
• homocysteine

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to all those who helped us during the writing of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

L Dong, J Liu and Y Qin conceived of the study, WJ Yang, L Nie and HN Liu participated in its design and coordination and QH Hu, Y Sun and WY Cao helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Data availability of statement

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee of Anyang Third People’s Hospital. All participants signed an informed consent form for inclusion in the study.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.