Oxidative Stress is Closely Associated with Increased Arterial Stiffness, Especially in Aged Male Smokers without Previous Cardiovascular Events: A Cross-Sectional Study

Aim: Cigarette smoking is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and induces deleterious vascular damage. Oxidative stress is involved in vascular inflammation, the process of atherosclerosis. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether the effects of oxidative stress on the arterial wall differ between smokers and non-smokers.

Methods: Male smokers and non-smokers without physical deconditioning who visited Enshu hospital for an annual physical check-up were enrolled in the study. To assess oxidative stress, serum levels of derivative reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROM) were measured. The radial augmentation index (RAI) was measured using an automated device and was used as an index for arterial stiffness.

Results: Univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis showed that RAI was independently associated with d-ROM levels only in smokers. Moreover, RAI was significantly higher in smokers than in non-smokers. Logistic regression analysis with the endpoint of a higher RAI than the mean revealed that older age (＞65 years), hypertension, and smoking were independently associated with higher RAI. Similarly, logistic regression analysis with the endpoint of higher d-ROM levels than the mean showed that older age and smoking were independently associated with higher d-ROM levels.

Conclusions: Increased RAI is significantly associated with smoking and, in smokers, with increased d-ROM levels. These results suggest that the effects of oxidative stress on arterial properties differ between smokers and non-smokers and that oxidative stress is closely associated with arterial stiffness, especially in smokers.