Association of Adiposity with Pulse Pressure Amongst Gujarati Indian Adolescents

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The current study was conducted to determine the effect of adiposity on vascular distensibility in Gujarati Indian adolescents as research indicating the pathogenesis of hypertension among overweight and/or obese Indian adolescents is scant and ethnic differences exist in the pathogenesis of hypertension MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 488 Gujarati Indian adolescents of 16-19 years age group. Adiposity was assessed in terms of BMI, Body Fat %, Fat Mass, Fat Mass Index and Waist Circumference. Arterial blood pressure was recorded and pulse pressure (PP) was calculated using the standard equation based on the difference between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Pearson’s correlation coefficient was determined to find the association between the markers of adiposity and SBP, DBP and PP. RESULT: A significant positive correlationship was found between adiposity and PP in boys. However, no significant correlationship was found between adiposity and PP in girls. CONCLUSION: An increase in total as well as visceral adiposity is probably associated with a decrease in vascular distensibility in the Gujarati Indian adolescent boys but not in girls, thus indicating a protective role of female sex hormone estrogen which has been shown earlier to protect the vasculature from atherosclerosis, endothelial dysfunction which occurs with increase in adiposity.