Cocoa intake and arterial stiffness in subjects with cardiovascular risk factors

BACKGROUND: To analyze the relationship of cocoa intake to central and peripheral blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and carotid intima-media thickness in subjects with some cardiovascular risk factor. FINDINGS: Design: A cross-sectional study of 351 subjects (mean age 54.76 years, 62.4% males). Measurements: Intake of cocoa and other foods using a food frequency questionnaire, central and peripheral (ambulatory and office) blood pressure, central and peripheral augmentation index, pulse wave velocity, ambulatory arterial stiffness index, carotid intima-media thickness, and ankle-brachial index. Results: Higher pulse wave velocity and greater cardiovascular risk were found in non-cocoa consumers as compared to high consumers (p < 0.05). In a multivariate analysis, these differences disappeared after adjusting for age, gender, the presence of diabetes, systolic blood pressure and antihypertensive and lipid-lowering drug use. All other arterial stiffness measures (central and peripheral augmentation index, ambulatory arterial stiffness index, ankle-brachial index, and carotid intima-media thickness) showed no differences between the different consumption groups. CONCLUSIONS: In subjects with some cardiovascular risk factors, cocoa consumption does not imply improvement in the arterial stiffness values. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT01325064.