Abstract
BackgroundTo 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.FindingsDesign: 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.ConclusionsIn subjects with some cardiovascular risk factors, cocoa consumption does not imply improvement in the arterial stiffness values.Trial RegistrationClinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT01325064.
Highlights
Cocoa intake is related to a lower cardiovascular risk [1,2]
The relationship of usual cocoa consumption to arterial stiffness parameters and central blood pressure is not clear [7,8], cocoa intake has been related to a lower prevalence of atherosclerotic plaques in carotid arteries [9,10]
The purpose of this study was 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
Summary
Cocoa intake is related to a lower cardiovascular risk [1,2]. two recently published metaanalyses coincide that it is unclear whether cocoa consumption is related to reductions in adverse cardiovascular outcomes [3,4].The benefits of cocoa could be explained by an improved endothelial function and a beneficial effect on blood pressure [5], in subjects with high levels of blood pressure [6]. Cocoa intake is related to a lower cardiovascular risk [1,2]. The relationship of usual cocoa consumption to arterial stiffness parameters and central blood pressure is not clear [7,8], cocoa intake has been related to a lower prevalence of atherosclerotic plaques in carotid arteries [9,10]. The relationship between cocoa consumption and arterial. The purpose of this study was 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. 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
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