A6141 Characteristics of Healthy Vascular Ageing (HVA) in pooled population-based cohort studies

Objectives: Arterial ageing is characterized by increasing arterial stiffness as measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV). This process is enhanced in subjects with early vascular ageing (EVA), but slowed in subjects with healthy vascular ageing (HVA). We aimed to describe characteristics of EVA and HVA in a transcontinental study including eleven cohorts. Methods: In all, 18,490 participants from the global MARE Consortium, free of cardiovascular disease, participated with data on PWV and cardiometabolic risk factors. We defined HVA as the lowest 10% and EVA as the highest 10% of the standardized PWV distribution, adjusted for age-intervals. HVA subjects were compared to the 90% of non-HVA subjects with ANCOVA, adjusted for age, sex and hypertension. Results: The 1723 HVA subjects were at similar age as the rest of the population, more likely women (59.4 vs 57.0 %), and with significantly lower levels of established CV risk factors (blood pressure, lipids, glucose). Similarly, the prevalence rate of obesity (but not overweight), diabetes mellitus, hypertension, low HDL cholesterol, and the metabolic syndrome was lower in the HVA subjects. In the presence of similar levels of CV risk factors, HVA subjects in the 50–64 years of age group presented lower PWV 5.8 (SD: 0.5) vs. 7.4 (1.4) m/sec (p < 0.0001) than control subjects in the 35–49 years of age group, corresponding to an estimated difference in chronological age of 14 years. Conclusion: Subjects with healthy vascular ageing (HVA), belonging to the lowest end of the PWV distribution, are in general characterized by an up to 14 years estimated younger biological (vascular) age than those with higher PWV values, and have lower levels of cardiometabolic risk factors.