Relationship between lipid parameters and vascular mechanical characteristics among a normotensive population without diabetes mellitus residing at the Qinghai–Tibet plateau: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: There is limited evidence regarding the relationship between lipid parameters and vascular mechanical characteristics in the normotensive population without diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to identify an association between lipid parameters and changes in vascular mechanical characteristics between men and women, and in women before and after menopause. METHODS: Six hundred-seventy patients who underwent vascular functional testing and who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled in our cross-sectional study. All participants were from the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (Luhuo County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China; mean altitude: 3860 m). Trained clinical physicians assessed brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (Ba-PWV) and augmentation index adjusted to a 75-beats-per-minute heart rate (AIx@75). To investigate the relationship between lipid parameters and vascular mechanical characteristics in different sexes and menstrual stages, partial correlation analysis and multiple linear regression were used. RESULTS: The 670 participants comprised 445 women (103 post-menopausal). Mean Ba-PWV and AIx@75 were 1315.56 ± 243.41 cm/s and 25.07% ± 15.84%, respectively. Men had greater Ba-PWV values compared with women (1341.61 ± 244.28 vs 1302.39 ± 242.17 cm/s, respectively; P < 0.05), while AIx@75 values were higher in women compared with men (27.83% ± 15.85% vs 19.64% ± 14.40%, respectively; p < 0.001). In the partial correlation analysis adjusted for age, total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were associated with Ba-PWV in both men and women (p < 0.05); however, the magnitude was larger in men. Statistical significance was not seen for AIx@75 among both men and women. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that TC (β = 0.165, p = 0.024) and non-HDL-C (β = 0.151, p = 0.042) remained independent predictors of change in Ba-PWV in men after adjusting for age, mean arterial pressure, waist circumference, hemoglobin, platelet count, fasting blood glucose, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and uric acid. After adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, pre-menopausal women had a similar association to that of men between LDL-C (β = 0.126, p = 0.030), non-HDL-C (β = 0.144, p = 0.013), TC/HDL-C (β = 0.162, p = 0.005), LDL-C/HDL-C (β = 0.142, p = 0.013) and Ba-PWV; however, post-menopausal women had no association between the lipid parameters and vascular function. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, TC and non-HDL-C were independent associated factors for vascular compliance alterations evaluated through Ba-PWV in normotensive men. In pre-menopausal women, LDL-C, non-HDL-C, TC/HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C were independent associated factors for vascular compliance alterations. After controlling for traditional risk factors, lipid profiles were not associated with these metrics for AIx@75, which can measure the amplification of reflex flow, because of the high number of confounding factors that do not genuinely reflect changes in vascular characteristics. Lipid factors did not appear to be linked to vascular function in post-menopausal women.