Key result
Height is positively associated with endothelial maintenance capacity via bone marrow-derived CD34-positive cells, which may explain the inverse relationship between height and cardiovascular diseases.
Why the study?
Recent studies have revealed an inverse association between height and cardiovascular disease, but the underlying biological mechanism has not yet been clarified.
Height may influence endothelial maintenance activity, providing a potential mechanism for the inverse association between height and cardiovascular disease risk.
Does not support height-based CVD risk stratification; leaves open mechanistic roles for CD34-positive cells in endothelial maintenance.
Recent studies have revealed an inverse association between height and cardiovascular disease. However, the background mechanism of this association has not yet been clarified. Height has also been reported to be positively associated with cancer. Therefore, well-known cardiovascular risk factors, such as increased oxidative stress and chronic inflammation, are not the best explanations for this inverse association because these risk factors are also related to cancer. However, impaired blood flow is the main pathological problem in cardiovascular disease, while glowing feeding vessels (angiogenesis) are the main characteristic of cancer pathologies. Therefore, endothelial maintenance activity, especially for the productivity of hematopoietic stem cells such as CD34-positive cells, could be associated with the height of an individual because this cell contributes not only to the progression of atherosclerosis but also to the development of angiogenesis. In addition, recent studies have also revealed a close connection between bone marrow activity and endothelial maintenance; bone marrow-derived hematopoietic stem cells contribute towards endothelial maintenance. Since the absolute volume of bone marrow is positively associated with height, height could influence endothelial maintenance activity. Based on these hypotheses, we performed several studies. The aim of this review is not only to discuss the association between height and bone marrow activity, but also to describe the potential mechanism underlying endothelial maintenance. In addition, this review also aims to explain some of the reasons that implicate hypertension as a major risk factor for stroke among the Japanese population. The review also aims to clarify the anthropological reasons behind the high risk of atherosclerosis progression in Japanese individuals with acquired genetic characteristics.
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Shimizu et al. (2021) conducted a review in Cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, hypertension, stroke. Height was evaluated. Height is positively associated with endothelial maintenance capacity via bone marrow-derived CD34-positive cells, which may explain the inverse relationship between height and cardiovascular diseases.
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