ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Arterial stiffness is related to inflammation, oxidative stress, advanced glycation end products (AGEs), and endothelial dysfunction. Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) is both as an adhesion molecule involving in inflammation and as an amine oxidase producing aldehyde and hydrogen peroxide involved in protein cross-linking, oxidative stress and endothelial injury. OBJECTIVE: We explored the associations of plasma soluble VAP-1 (sVAP-1) with arterial stiffness. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Health Examination Center at the General Hospital of the Air Force in Beijing, China. SUBJECTS: 568 Han Chinese healthy persons living in Beijing (aged 50.7 ± 8.0 years). METHODS: sVAP-1 concentration was assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Arterial stiffness was measured as brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) on both left and right sides of the examinees, and the larger and the mean values were recorded. Cardiovascular risk factors were investigated. RESULTS: sVAP-1 was significantly associated with maximal or mean baPWV in subjects of age ≥ 60 years after adjusting for baPWV-related confounders (ß=36.922, p<0.05 or ß=32.512, p<0.05) or after adjusting for all the variables (ß=37.924, p<0.05 or ß=33.193, p<0.05), but not in subjects of age <60 years. sVAP-1 had an independent and positive correlation with age (r=0.222, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Plasma sVAP-1, increased with age, is associated with arterial stiffness in older individuals. VAP-1 may be important mechanism for vascular aging.
