The association between ambulatory blood pressure profile and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity in untreated hypertensive subjects.

The study aim was to investigate the relationship between blood pressure (BP) profile of ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). A total of 196 untreated hypertensive subjects (103 women, age 54.7 ± 12.4 years) who underwent both baPWV measurement and ABPM were analyzed. Systolic dipping of < 10% was defined as a non-dipper. Eighty subjects (40.8%) were non-dippers. The baPWV values were similar between dippers and non-dippers (1609 ± 293 vs 1539 ± 240, p = 0.070). In multiple regression analyses, after controlling age, height and heart rate, daytime systolic BP (SBP) (β = 0.346, p < 0.001) and night-time SBP (β = 0.244, p = 0.006) had significant positive associations with baPWV in women but not in men. Diastolic BP and dipping status were not associated with baPWV in either gender. Univariate analysis after further stratification of women according to postmenopausal status showed significant correlations of daytime SBP (β = 0.317, p = 0.007) and night-time SBP (β = 0.339, p = 0.004) with baPWV in postmenopausal women but not in premenopausal women. These results suggest that age and gender effects should be considered in the interpretation of the association between BP and arterial stiffness.