Association Between Glucose Metabolism And Vascular Aging In Chinese Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis In The Tianning Cohort Study

Abstract

Aim

Fasting glucose has been associated with vascular aging, but the association between HbA1c and vascular aging has been limitedly studied in Chinese and other ethnic populations. We aimed to examine this association in a large sample of Chinese adults.

Methods

In the Tianning Cohort (N=5142), fasting glucose, HbA1c, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), and pulse pressure (PP) were measured. Vascular aging was defined as having the highest quartile level of cfPWV or PP. We applied quantile regression models to examine the association between glucose metabolism and vascular aging.

Results

The median cfPWV was significantly increased as increasing quintiles of fasting glucose (β=0.14, P<0.001) and HbA1c (β=0.07, P=0.0056), respectively. Per 1-mmol/L increment of fasting glucose was significantly associated with a higher risk of having vascular aging defined by cfPWV (OR=1.05, P=0.022), PP (OR=1.06, P=0.048), or either (OR=1.08, P=0.002). Similarly, per 1% increment of HbA1c was significantly associated with a higher risk of having vascular aging defined by cfPWV (OR=1.06, P=0.044), PP (OR=1.10, P=0.012), or either (OR=1.12, P=0.042).

Conclusion

Glucose metabolism was significantly and positively associated with vascular aging in Chinese adults, but the causality is uncertain.

Keywords:

• vascular aging
• glucose metabolism
• Chinese
• fasting glucose

Acknowledgments

We are deeply appreciative of the participants in this study and thank all staff for their support and assistance. Especially, we thank the Center for Disease Prevention and Control of Tianning District for their support in the recruitment of participants.

Abbreviations

BMI, body mass index; CVD, cardiovascular disease; fPWV: carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; GPAQ, the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; PWV, pulse wave velocity; PSQI, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; SBP, systolic blood pressure.

Data Availability

The data are available on request from the corresponding author at [email protected].

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.