Arterial Stiffness and Wave Reflections in Relation to Plasma Advanced Glycation End Products in a Chinese Population

BACKGROUND Accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the human body might engender arterial stiffening. We investigated the relationship of plasma AGE concentration with arterial stiffness and wave reflections in a Chinese population. METHODS The study subjects were recruited from a newly established residential area in the suburb of Shanghai in 2009. Using the SphygmoCor system, we measured carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and central augmentation indices (cAI) and peripheral augmentation indices (pAI). Plasma AGE concentration was measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method and logarithmically transformed for statistical analysis. RESULTS The 1,051 study participants (mean age = 55.1 +/- 13.1 years) included 663 (63.1%) women, 390 (37.1%) hypertensive patients, and 90 (8.6%) diabetic or prediabetic subjects. Plasma AGE concentration was higher in men than women (5.62 vs. 5.07 mu g/ml; P = 0.02) and with older age (r = 0.13 in both sexes; P <= 0.01) and higher serum total/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (r = 0.20 in men and r = 0.15 in women; P < 0.0001). In multiple regression analyses, plasma AGE concentration was significantly associated with cAI and pAI (1.9% and 4.0% increase per 10-time increase in plasma AGE concentration, respectively; P <= 0.02) but not with cfPWV (P = 0.62). However, there was significant (P = 0.001) interaction between plasma AGE concentration and age in relation to cfPWV. Only in subjects aged >= 70 years, cfPWV increased with higher levels of plasma AGE concentration (bottom vs. top quintile distributions = 8.10 vs. 8.90 m/s; P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS AGEs accumulate with aging and high cholesterol and are associated with arterial wave reflections and, in an age-dependent manner, with arterial stiffness.