Multiple non-invasive peripheral vascular function parameters with obesity and cardiometabolic risk indicators in school-aged children

BACKGROUND: The Peripheral Arterial Tonometry (PAT) technique measured by Endo-PAT™, is recently introduced for peripheral vascular assessment in youth, primarily benefits from its easy and non-invasive operation. However, the value of Endo-PAT as early indicator of obesity-related cardiometabolic risk factors remains unclear, with few studies focusing solely on Reactive Hyperemia Index (RHI). A wider coverage of Endo-PAT algorithms is recommended to be applied simultaneously in youth. We evaluated the value of multiple Endo-PAT parameters on obesity and cardiometabolic risk indication in school-aged children, in comparison with another non-invasive Brachial-ankle Pulse Wave Velocity (BaPWV) method. METHODS: This cross-sectional sample included 545 youth (80 with overweight and 73 with obesity) aged 7–17 years. RHI, Framingham-Reactive Hyperemia Index (F-RHI), peak response and Augmentation Index normalized to Heart Rate 75 bpm (AIx75) were measured by Endo-PAT™ 2000 device. Spearman correlations of abovementioned Endo-PAT parameters and BaPWV, with adiposity (weight, waist circumference, BMI, body fat mass) and cardiometabolic indicators (glycemic response, blood pressure, lipid profiles) were calculated with non-linear adjustment on age, height, gender and baseline pulse-wave amplitude (PWA) using fractional polynomials. Analysis was repeated in students with obesity only [median BMI z score: 3.0 (2.5,3.5)] for sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: The correlations of Endo-PAT parameters with adiposity measures and cardiometabolic indicators were overall mixed and weak (DBP: r ranged from − 0.20 to − 0.13, others: |r| < 0.1) after adjustment. Except that body fat mass (AIx75: r = 0.52 p < 0.01) and triglyceride level (RHI: r = − 0.32 p < 0.01, F-RHI: r = − 0.21 p > 0.05) was moderately reversed in students with obesity. In contrast, BaPWV showed consistently moderate correlations (|r| ranged from 0.123 to 0.322, p < 0.05) with almost all adiposity measures and cardiometabolic indicators regardless of obesity status. CONCLUSION: Contrary to previous suggestion, various Endo-PAT parameters performed similarly weak for early cardiometabolic risk indication in school-aged children, and less preferable than that by another non-invasive BaPWV method. Despite further investigation is needed to improve certainty of relevant research evidence, innovative technology and algorithms taking into account specifics of young population are worthy of consideration. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12887-022-03214-4.