Key result
Young Black boys show higher pulse wave velocity than white boys, correlating with β-alanine and L-proline.
Why the study?
Black boys aged 6–8 years have higher pulse wave velocity indicating potential early vascular compromise, but associations with urinary metabolites are unexplored.
Cross-Sectional (n=80)
In healthy 6-8 year old boys from South Africa, black boys have higher pulse wave velocity which correlates with specific urinary metabolites, suggesting potential early compromise in cardiac protective metabolic pathways.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May indicate early racial differences in arterial stiffness; hypothesis-generating for amino acid roles in pediatric vascular health, needing prospective confirmation.
Background and Aims: Black boys (6–8 years of age) were shown to have higher pulse wave velocity with potential early vascular compromise. We aimed to compare predefined urinary metabolites in black and white boys to explore associations of pulse wave velocity with these metabolites. Methods and Results: We included 40 white and 40 black apparently healthy boys between the ages of 6 and 8 years. Femoral pulse wave velocity was measured along with various metabolites using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and gas chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS) methods. Pulse wave velocity and diastolic blood pressure were higher in the black compared to the white boys (both p ≤ 0.002). Isovalerylcarnitine was lower and 1-metylhistidine tended to be lower (p = 0.002 and p = 0.073, respectively), whereas L-proline levels tended to be higher (p = 0.079) in the black compared to the white boys. In single, partial, and multiple regression analyses, pulse wave velocity correlated inversely with β-alanine (β = –0.414; p = 0.008) and 1-methylhistidine (β = –0.347; p = 0.032) and positively with L-proline (β = 0.420; p = 0.008), threonic acid (β = 0.977; p = 0.033), and malonic acid (β = 0.348; p = 0.030) in black boys only. Conclusion: Our study is the first to discover the associations of pulse wave velocity with β-alanine, 1-methylhistidine, and L-proline in children from South Africa, which may suggest potential early compromise in cardiac protective metabolic pathways in black boys as young as 6 years of age.
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Erasmus et al. (2018) conducted a cross-sectional in Premature arterial stiffness (n=80). Black race vs. White race was evaluated on Pulse wave velocity and diastolic blood pressure (p=≤ 0.002). Black boys aged 6-8 years had higher pulse wave velocity than white boys (p≤0.002), which correlated inversely with β-alanine (β=-0.414) and positively with L-proline (β=0.420).
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