Preferential stiffening of central over peripheral arteries in type 2 diabetes

Arterial stiffness affects cardiac functions, peripheral circulation, and cardiovascular mortality. We examined whether arterial stiffness in different regions is equally affected by diabetes and other factors. The subjects were 161 patients with type 2 diabetes and 129 healthy subjects comparable in age and sex. Arterial stiffness was evaluated by measuring pulse wave velocity (PWV) in the heart-carotid, heart-brachial, heart-femoral, and femoral-ankle segments using an automatic device. The diabetic patients had greater PWV than the healthy subjects in the four arterial regions, and the effect of diabetes on PWV was greater in the heart-carotid and heart-femoral segments (central) than in the heart-brachial and femoral-ankle regions (peripheral). PWV increased with age in the four arterial regions, and the effect of age on PWV was greater in the central than in peripheral arteries. In multiple regression analysis, age and systolic blood pressure had significant impacts on PWV of the four regions, whereas diabetes was significantly associated only with PWV of the central arteries. In contrast, sex was associated with PWV of the peripheral arteries. Thus, type 2 diabetes had greater impact on PWV of the central arteries, and different factors were involved in PWV among different arterial regions.