Combined effects of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia on radial artery function

Compliance and distensibility of middle-sized conduit arteries are increased in hypertension and reduced in hypercholesterolemia. Despite their frequent association in the same individual, the combined effect of these two conditions on arterial mechanical properties is unknown. We studied four groups of age- and sex-matched subjects: 10 normotensive normocholesterolemic subjects, 10 mild hypertensive normocholesterolemic subjects, 10 mild hypercholesterolemic normotensive subjects, and 10 mild hypertensive and mild hypercholesterolemic subjects. We measured radial artery diameter by an echotracking device and beat-to-beat blood pressure from an ipsilateral finger. Compliance-pressure and distensibility-pressure curves were derived by Langewouters' formula. Between-group comparisons were made by calculating for both compliance and distensibility the integral of the area under the portion of the curve common to the four groups ("isobaric" compliance and distensibility). Blood pressure was similarly elevated in the two hypertensive groups, and serum cholesterol was similarly elevated in the two hypercholesterolemic groups. Compared with values in normotensive normocholesterolemic subjects, isobaric compliance and distensibility were greater in hypertensive normocholesteroclemic (+38% and 47%, respectively) and smaller in normotensive hypercholesterolemic (-6% and -23%) subjects. However, when both hypertension and hypercholesterolemia were present, isobaric compliance and isobaric distensibility were significantly reduced (-26% and -18%, P < .05). Therefore, hypercholesterolemia reverses the effect of hypertension on arterial compliance and causes arterial stiffening, as when present alone.