RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: Low 25 (OH) vitamin D increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. Pulse wave velocity (PWV), which is related with arterial stiffness, can be used evaluate the severity of systemic atherosclerosis. Brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV) is affected by sex, age, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, and waist circumference. We evaluated determinants of PWV in Korean adults andits associationwith the plasma vitamin D level and arterial stiffness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 178 adults (>age of 20) who visited thehealth promotion center. We investigated medical history, medication, smoking and alcohol use by means of questionnaire. We measuredblood pressure, pulse rate, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, lipid profile, hs-CRP, plasma 25 (OH) vitamin D level, and baPWV. We then analyzed retrospectively the relationship between baPWV and various risk factors. RESULTS: The mean ages in 97 males and 81 females were 47.9+/-13 and 43.6+/-11.4 years, respectively. baPWV is correlated with age, BMI, waist, blood pressure, fasting glucose, HTN, DM, total cholesterol, triglyceride, hs-CRP, and 25 (OH) vitamin D. We found out that age (beta=7.49, P<0.001), BMI (beta=-10.05, P=0.023), SBP (beta=7.69, P<0.001), TG (beta=111.41, P=0.039), and fasting glucose (beta=1.447, P=0.561) were independent predictors of baPWVafter performing multiple linear regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: baPWV was affected by age, SBP, BMI, TG, and fasting glucose. Deficiency of 25 (OH) vitamin Dwas not associated with baPWV after adjusting the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in this study group.