Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
Unité de Recherche en Biologie Cellulaire (URBC) - Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences (Narilis), Namur University, Namur, Belgium.
Sci Rep. 2020 Mar 20;10(1):5107. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-61987-z.
Cardiovascular risk factors are usually better tolerated, and can therefore be perceived as less harmful, at a young age. However, over time the effects of these adverse factors may persist or accumulate and lead to excess morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases later in life. Until now, reference values for the basic cardiovascular health characteristics of 4-to-6 year-old children are lacking. Within a follow-up study of the ENVIRONAGE (ENVIRonmental influence ON early AGE) birth cohort we assessed various cardiovascular measurements in 288 children aged 4-5 years. For the macrovasculature, we measured their blood pressure and examined the intima-media thickness of the carotid artery (CIMT), the arterial elasticity (including the pulse-wave velocity (PWV), carotid distensibility (DC) and compliance (CC) coefficients), the carotid β stiffness index (SIβ) and Young's Elastic Modulus (YEM). Retinal microvascular traits included the Central Retinal Arteriolar Equivalent (CRAE) and Central Retinal Venular Equivalent (CRVE). Age of the study population averaged (±SD) 4.2 (±0.4 years. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure were 97.9 (±8.1) mmHg and 54.7(±7.6) mmHg, respectively. CIMT for the total population averaged 487.1 (±68.1) µm. The average stiffness values for DC, CC, SIβ, and PWV were 78.7 (±34.2) 10³/kPa, 1.61 (±0.59) mm/kPa and 4.4 (±2.4), and 3.7 m/s (±0.9) respectively. The mean determined for YEM was 163.2 kPa (±79.9). Concerning the microvasculature, the average CRAE was 180.9 (±14.2) µm and the corresponding value for CRVE was 251.0 (±19.7) µm. In contrast to the macrovasculature, a significant gender-related difference existed for the microvasculature: in boys, both the CRAE (178.8 µm vs 182.6 µm; p = 0.03) and CRVE (247.9 µm vs 254.0 µm; p = 0.01) were narrower than in girls. We have provided reference values for young children to understand changes in the early cardiovascular health trajectory. Establishing these reference values of cardiovascular phenotypes at this young age is necessary to develop targeted health promotion strategies as well as for better understanding of the life course changes of both small and large blood vessels.
心血管危险因素在年轻时通常更容易被耐受，因此被认为危害较小。然而，随着时间的推移，这些不利因素的影响可能会持续或积累，并导致日后心血管疾病的发病率和死亡率过高。到目前为止，还缺乏 4 至 6 岁儿童基本心血管健康特征的参考值。在 ENVIRONAGE（环境对早期年龄的影响）出生队列的一项随访研究中，我们评估了 288 名 4-5 岁儿童的各种心血管测量值。在大动脉方面，我们测量了他们的血压，并检查了颈动脉内膜-中层厚度（CIMT）、动脉弹性（包括脉搏波速度（PWV）、颈动脉扩张性（DC）和顺应性（CC）系数）、颈动脉β僵硬度指数（SIβ）和杨氏弹性模量（YEM）。视网膜微血管特征包括中央视网膜小动脉等效直径（CRAE）和中央视网膜小静脉等效直径（CRVE）。研究人群的平均年龄（±标准差）为 4.2（±0.4 岁）。平均收缩压和舒张压分别为 97.9（±8.1）mmHg 和 54.7（±7.6）mmHg。总人群的 CIMT 平均值为 487.1（±68.1）µm。DC、CC、SIβ 和 PWV 的平均僵硬度值分别为 78.7（±34.2）10³/kPa、1.61（±0.59）mm/kPa 和 4.4（±2.4）、3.7m/s（±0.9）。YEM 的平均测定值为 163.2 kPa（±79.9）。关于微血管，平均 CRAE 为 180.9（±14.2）µm，相应的 CRVE 值为 251.0（±19.7）µm。与大动脉不同，微血管存在显著的性别相关差异：男孩的 CRAE（178.8µm 比 182.6µm；p=0.03）和 CRVE（247.9µm 比 254.0µm；p=0.01）均比女孩窄。我们为幼儿提供了心血管健康轨迹早期变化的参考值。在这个年龄建立心血管表型的参考值对于制定有针对性的健康促进策略以及更好地理解小血管和大血管的生命历程变化是必要的。
