The missing link between inflammation and arterial stiffness among different metabolic phenotypes.

Gökçay Canpolat, Asena; Demir, Özgür; Şahin, Mustafa; Emral, Rıfat; Çorapçıoğlu, Demet

OBJECTIVES Although metabolically healthy obesity has begun to be seen as a being benign phenomenon, this conclusion is still not completely certain. Obesity is also associated with low-grade systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. Thus, we aimed to assess Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) as a marker of arterial stiffness and CV risk among individuals with MHO, metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO), and metabolically healthy normal-weight (MHN). METHODS 150 participants (n=50 MHO, n=50 MUO, n=50 MHN) who had been admitted to our outpatient clinics were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Demographic, anthropometric, clinical, and laboratory data, including hs-CRP and PWV, were recorded for all subjects. RESULTS hs-CRP and PWV were higher in MUO and MHO than MHN individuals (p<0.05). hs-CRP showed a strong positive correlation with PWV (r=0.85, p<0.001). After adjusting for other risk factors, multivariate linear regression analysis showed that the PWV was independently associated with BMI (β=0.08, p=0.03), WC (β=0.04, p=0.04) and hs-CRP (β=6.08, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS PWV, which is an important noninvasive marker of cardiovascular risk, is higher in MHO than in MHN as in MUO individuals. Moreover, PWV was positively correlated with the serum hs-CRP level as a conventional marker for systemic inflammation. Thus, MHO can be seen as a cardiometabolic risk marker.