ABSTRACT
The authors hypothesized that habitual physical exercise and aortic distensibility would be the major factors which influence systolic blood pressure. This study was designed to analyze the relationships among systolic blood pressure (SBP) and parameters determined at medical checks, including age, diastolic blood pressure (DBP), aortic pulse wave velocity (APWV) index (APWVI : APWV standardized by the diastolic blood pressure), plasma lipid profiles (IC, TG), plasma glucose during an oral glucose tolerance test (2 h-OGTT), percentage body fat (%Fat), cigarette smoking habit (Cigarettes), alcohol consumption (Alcohol), and physical activity index (PAI) using a questionnaire, in 678 males aged 30 to 69 years, who visited a hospital for a thorough medical check-up. For analysis of factorial structure in the subjects, principal factor analysis was applied to the correlation matrix which was calculated with 12 variables. Correlational analysis and path analysis were applied to confirm the hypothetical model. The results demonstrated that DBP and APWVI were the major factors which significantly affected the SBP. The PAI was significantly and inversely correlated not only with the APWVI, but also with %Fat, which was significantly and positively correlated with the DBP. In conclusion, aortic wall stiffness may be an independent factor in the manifestation of systolic hypertension, and habitual physical exercise may decrease the SBP through direct reduction of aortic wall stiffness and indirectly decreasing the DBP.