ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking is an important modifiable cardiovascular risk factor, which is known to acutely increase arterial stiffness. But the chronic effects of smoking on arterial stiffness are still controvertial. We studied the effects of chronic cigarette smoking on arterial stiffness in Korean subjects. METHODS: Our subjects included those >18 years of age (n=2685, 991 females) who had undergone a pulse wave velocity from July 2004 to June 2008. They were classified into two groups, smokers (n=641) and non-smokers (n=2044). In addition to the pulse wave velocity (PWV), we reviewed the highly sensitive C-reactive protein levels in a random manner when it was available. RESULTS: Males were predominant in the smokers group. Smokers had significantly higher heart-femoral PWVs than non-smokers (1083.6+/-264.1 cm/sec vs. 1041.3+/-257.3 cm/sec; p<0.001). There was no linear relationship between smoking duration and PWV (r= -0.225, p=0.506) even after adjusting for age, sex, and body mass index. Furthermore, there was no difference in the ankle-brachial index between the two groups. On the multivariate regression analysis, age, male gender, hypertension, and diabetes were independent predictors of increased arterial stiffness. CONCLUSION: In this study, chronic cigarette smoking increased central arterial stiffness in Korean subjects.