Common carotid intima-media thickness and vascular stiffness in young adults taking into account body mass index

Aim. To assess the influence of body mass index (BMI) in young people on the carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), ankle-brachial index (ABI) and some cardiovascular risk factors.

Material and methods. The study included 171 young people (75 males and 96 females) aged 18-25 years. All subjects were divided into 3 following groups depending on their BMI level: group 1 — underweight, group 2 — normal weight, group 3 — overweight and obesity. In these groups, we determined the common carotid IMT using the RuScan 70P ultrasound system (NPO Scanner, Russia), the CAVI and ABI values using the Vasera VS-1500 system (Fukuda Denshi, Japan), as well as blood pressure (BP) and main cardiovascular risk factors.

Results. An association between BMI and left carotid IMT was revealed both among young men and among young women (ANOVA, p=0,023 and p_1-2=0,049). The ABI on the left (ANOVA, p=0,006) and CAVI (ANOVA, p=0,001 on the right and p=0,001 on the left) in young women were significantly higher in the 1^st group compared to the 2^nd and 3^rd groups. The highest systolic BP is observed in the overweight and obesity group compared to the normal and underweight groups both among young men (p_1-3=0,002 and p_2-3=0,015 on the right and p_1-3=0,002 and p_2-3=0,009 on the left) and among young women (p_1-3=0,024 and p_2-3=0,023 on the left and p_1-2=0,032, p_1-3=0,003 and p_2-3=0,042 on the right), respectively.

Conclusion. Early vascular remodeling in young people associated with overweight and obesity is characterized by higher IMT values in combination with physiological adaptation of large arterial media in the form of lower arterial stiffness in response to the training effect of overweight/obesity in this age period.

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