Metabolic syndrome and pulse pressure

Pulse pressure (PP) has been reported to be increased in patients with abdominal adiposity and insulin resistance. Aim of the present study is to verify the association of high PP with metabolic syndrome (MS) and with its individual components.

The relationship between PP and MS was studied in a sample of 1724 subjects aged (mean +/- s.d.) 52.8 +/- 1.3 years, enrolled in a screening programme for diabetes FIrenze-Bango A Ripoli (FIBAR) study, and in a consecutive series of 1775 patients with type 2 diabetes aged 64.3 +/- 9.1 years; only subjects not treated with antihypertensive medication were included in the analysis.

In the FIBAR sample, PP was significantly higher in subjects with MS. A significant correlation of PP was found in women with waist circumference, fasting glucose and triglyceride (r = 0.14, 0.15, and 0.09 respectively), and in men with fasting glucose only (r = 0.09); the correlation was no longer significant after adjustment for age and mean blood pressure. Similar results were obtained in the series of patients with type 2 diabetes.

High PP is associated with MS and its components, but this association seems to disappear after adjustment for age and mean blood pressure. On the basis of the present data, high PP cannot be considered as one of the alterations associated with MS.