Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2005, 207(4)

Comparison of Brachial-Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity in Japanese and Russians

HONGJIAN LIU, TOMOYUKI YAMBE, XIUMIN ZHANG,¹ YOSHIFUMI SAIJO, YASUYUKI SHIRAISHI, KAZUMITSU SEKINE, MITSUYA MARUYAMA,² YURI A. KOVALEV,³ IRINA A. MILYAGINA,³ VIKTOR A. MILYAGIN³ and SHINICHI NITTA²

Department of Medical Engineering and Cardiology, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, ¹Department of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan, ²Division of Medical Engineering and Clinical Investigation, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, and ³Department of Therapy, Smolensk State Medical Academy, Smolensk, Russia

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a well-known indicator of arterial stiffness and a marker of the presence of vascular lesions. Cardiovascular mortality in Russia has become the highest in the world. The Japanese are enjoying long lives, and the mortality caused by cardiovascular diseases has thus far remained at lower levels than that in Russia. In this study, we focused on brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) obtained from normal human subjects in Russia as well as in Japan, and compared their respective cardiovascular risks. We evaluated baPWV in 337 Japanese and 138 Russian healthy subjects. The baPWV was recorded using a PWV diagnosis device. BaPWV was measured between 2 locations of the arterial tree. The baPWV in the Russian group was significantly higher than that obtained in the Japanese of two groups categorized by age (40-59 years and 60- years). Further, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure in the Russian group were significantly higher than those obtained in Japanese in three age groups (under 39 years, 40-59 years, and 60- years). Moreover, the baPWV indicated a positive correlation with age, BMI and SBP in both Japanese and Russians, although the increasing trend of the baPWV against age of the Russian group had a larger value than that of the Japanese. Therefore, we suggest that arterial stiffness might be promoted earlier in the Russian group, which might be the main cause of the increased cardiovascular risk in Russia.

keywords —— brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity; atherosclerosis; Japanese; Russians

© 2005 Tohoku University Medical Press

===============================

Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2005, 207, 263-270

Correspondence: Hongjian Liu, Ph.D., Department of Medical Engineering and Cardiology, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryomachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.

e-mail: hongjianliu63@yahoo.co.jp