Serum Aldosterone Is Associated with Inflammation and Aortic Stiffness in Normotensive Overweight and Obese Young Adults

Abstract

Circulating aldosterone is increased in obesity and is associated with arterial stiffening in hypertensives and older adults. The aim of this article was to determine whether serum aldosterone is associated with pulse wave velocity (PWV), a measure of arterial stiffness, in normotensive overweight and obese adults aged 20–45 years (n = 344). Heart-femoral, femoral-ankle, and brachial-ankle PWV were measured. The sample was 77% female with mean body mass index 32.9 kg/m² (SD 3.9), median serum aldosterone 106.5 pg/mL (interquartile range 79.9, 155.5), and mean 24-hour urinary sodium excretion 185.9 mEq/day (SD 69.6). Higher serum aldosterone was not significantly correlated with any PWV measure in bivariate analysis. However, in multiple linear regression, adjusting for age, sex, race, height, heart rate, mean arterial pressure, and waist circumference, higher log aldosterone was associated with greater log heart-femoral PWV (β(se) = 0.042(0.021), P = .049). After adjusting for C-reactive protein, this association was no longer significant (β(se) = 0.035(0.021), P = .10). Circulating aldosterone may play an important role in vascular inflammation and aortic stiffening in normotensive overweight and obese adults.

• aldosterone
• arterial stiffness
• inflammation
• obesity
• RAAS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors acknowledge Dr. Linda Fried, MD, MPH, for writing and editing assistance.

Funding: Dr. Ping Tepper is supported by grant U01AG12553-15. Dr. Sutton-Tyrrell is supported by grant R01 HL077525-01A2. Dr. Barinas-Mitchell is supported by grant R01 HL077525-01A2. Dr. Genevieve Woodard is supported by F31 HL09171202 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. Jennifer Cooper is supported by T32 HL083825-01 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.