Associations between cardiovascular risk factors and carotid atherosclerosis in middle-aged Japanese men with multiple risk factors.

To examine the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis in Japanese middle-aged men with multiple risk factors, 110 Japanese men aged 36 to 60 yr were recruited based on the presence of all of the following factors detected during a screening survey: 1) body mass index (BMI) > or = 25 kg/m2; 2) systolic blood pressure (SBP) > or = 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure > or = 90 mmHg; 3) serum levels of triglycerides (TG) > or = 150 mg/dl and/or total cholesterol (T-ChoL) levels > or = 220 mg/dl and/or high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels < 40 mg/dl; and 4) fasting serum glucose > or = 110 mg/dl and/or hemoglobin A1C > or = 5.6%. After adjustment for age and cardiovascular risk factors, the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of carotid atherosclerosis associated with a 1-SD increment in HDL-C was 0.4 (95%CI: 0.2 to 0.9). We also detected a borderline association for anti-hypertension medication use, an indicator for advanced hypertension, with an odds ratio of 2.7 (95%CI: 1.0 to 7.4) after multivariable adjustment. The other risk factors, i.e. BMI, SBP, T-ChoL, TG, diabetes, smoking and drinking status did not show significant associations with carotid atherosclerosis. In conclusion, low HDL-C and advanced hypertension were significant correlates of carotid atherosclerosis for middle-aged Japanese men with multiple risk factors.