Does early life programming influence arterial stiffness and central hemodynamics in adulthood?

Objectives: We aimed to investigate possible associations between birth weight and adult life carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and augmentation pressure index (AIx). Design and method: This study included 1598 participants, that is, 340 elderly individuals from the Malmö Birth Data Cohort (MBDC) and 1258 young-middle aged individuals from the Malmö Offspring Study (MOS) with full data on birth weight and gestational age. Participants underwent cfPWV and AIx measurements with Sphygmocor (AtCor, Australia). Analysis of data was performed with multiple linear regression models including adjustments for age, sex, gestational age and risk factors. Furthermore, comparisons were made between participants born prematurely or at term or born small-for-gestational age (SGA) or appropriate-for-gestational age (AGA). Results: Birth weight was positively associated with cfPWV after full adjustment ( β = 0.057; P < 0.001), a finding that remained significant in the younger age group 18–27 years ( β = 0.138, P = 0.008). Furthermore, birth weight was inversely associated with AIx ( β = −0.058, P = 0.001). Participants born SGA had significantly higher AIx ( P = 0.007) and MAP ( P = 0.037) compared with AGA born. Preterm-born participants showed significantly higher SBP compared with term-born ( P = 0.034). Finally, birth weight was inversely associated with MAP ( β = −0.058, P = 0.017) and SBP ( β = −0.047, P = 0.031), respectively. Conclusion: Birth weight is positively associated with cfPWV, shown strongest in the youngest individuals, a finding that could possibly be explained by increasing trends for maternal overweight/obesity in recent decades. Furthermore, birth weight is inversely associated with AIx, a risk marker of cardiovascular disease. This calls for screening of risk factors in subjects with adverse conditions at birth.