Does higher cardiorespiratory fitness prevent age-related arterial stiffening in healthy adults?
Higher baseline cardiorespiratory fitness is independently associated with the suppression of age-related arterial stiffening over a 2-year period in healthy adults.
Cardiorespiratory fitness is negatively associated with arterial stiffness, although it is unclear whether it is associated with prospective arterial stiffness changes. The authors examined cardiorespiratory fitness and arterial stiffness progression in a 2-year follow-up study of 470 healthy men and women aged 26 to 69 years. Peak oxygen uptake (V˙O2peak) was measured at baseline using a graded cycle exercise test. Arterial stiffness was assessed using brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) at baseline and after 2 years. Two-year changes in baPWV were significantly higher in patients in the lowest V˙O2peak tertile (28.8±7.6 cm/s) compared with those in the highest V˙O2peak tertile (-1.4±7.5 cm/s) (P=.024) and were inversely correlated with V˙O2peak (r=-.112, P=.015). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that age, glucose, baPWV, V˙O2peak, and sex were independent correlates of 2-year changes in baPWV, suggesting that higher cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with age-related arterial stiffening suppression.
Gando et al. (Thu,) studied this question.