Hypercholesterolaemia alters arterial and blood factors related to atherosclerosis in hypertension

Abstract

To evaluate the influence of hypercholesterolaemia on arterial and blood factors related to cardiovascular disease in hypertension, 20 normocholesterolaemic and 31 hypercholesterolaemic hypertensive patients underwent determinations of whole blood filterability (WBF), plasma fibrinogen concentration (PF) and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV). Both of the groups had similar age, body mass index, cumulative smoking dose and blood pressure. Hypercholesterolaemics had lower WBF ( P < 0.02), higher PF ( P < 0.02) and higher PWV ( P < 0.01) than normocholesterolaemics. In the whole population WBF correlated with age ( P < 0.005), mean blood pressure ( P < 0.01), total cholesterol ( P < 0.05) and plasma fibrinogen ( P < 0.01). However, in a multivariate analysis where age and pressure were controlled as variables, only the association between WBF and PF remained significant ( P < 0.001). Thus, the higher fibrinogen affects whole blood filterability in hypercholesterolaemic hypertensive patients. In the whole population PWV correlated positively with HDL cholesterol ( P < 0.01) and age ( P < 0.001) and the association with HDL cholesterol remained significant in a multivariate analysis ( P < 0.001) where age was controlled. The effect of ageing on arterial rigidity seems to be similar in both hypertensive groups as deduced from the identical regression slopes relating pulse wave velocity to age. So in hypertension with high cholesterol, arterial rigidity was increased without changes in arterial stiffening with age.