Triglycerides are related to left ventricular mass in hypertensive patients independently of other cardiometabolic risk factors: the effect of gender

Given the inconsistent results on the prognostic significance of triglycerides (TGs), the purpose of the present study was to investigate the association of plasma TGs with left ventricular mass (LVM) in hypertensive patients. We studied 760 never treated, non diabetic, hypertensive patients. Τransthoracic echocardiography was performed and LVMI was calculated according to the Devereux formula, adjusted to body surface area. Triglycerides were associated with LVMI after adjustment for age, gender, systolic blood pressure (SBP), smoking and fasting glucose (b = 0.08, p = 0.009). This relationship remained significant even after adjustment for BMI, LDL-C and ApoB/ApoA1 ratio (b = 0.07, p = 0.04). Gender-stratified analysis indicated that TGs were related to LVMI in men (p = 0.001) but not in women (p = NS). In addition, TGs were related with LV hypertrophy (LVH) in men, increasing the odds by 7% to present LVMI over 115 g/m(2) (OR = 1.07 per 10 mg/dl increase in TGs, p = 0.01). In conclusion, TGs are associated with LVMI in hypertensive patients, independently of other risk factors, including LDL-C. Given the prognostic significance of LVH, it might be suggested that TGs may serve as a useful marker for indentifying hypertensive patients at high risk. The gender discrepancy may suggest a possible gender-specific modulatory effect of TGs on LV structure.