Blood pressure variability and arterial elasticity in hyperlipidemic patients

AIM: To study the relationship between blood pressure variability (BPV) and arterial compliance in hyperlipidemic subjects, which was defined as total cholesterol (TC)/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) of >5.0 as compared to normolipidemic subjects. METHODS: Thirty-three hyperlipidemic patients were age- gender- and weight-matched with normolipidemic controls. Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was recorded and arterial compliance was measured. RESULTS: There were significantly higher 24-h systolic ［(20±6) mmHg vs.(16±4) mmHg, P<0.01, 1 mmHg=0.133kPa］, diastolic ［(16±5)mmHg vs.(13±5)mmHg, P<0.05］ and mean arterial ［(16±5)mmHg vs.(13±5)mmHg, P<0.05］ BPVs in the hyperlipidemic group as compared to those in the normolipidemic group. There were no significant differences in large and small arterial compliance among groups. In normolipidemic subjects, there was a significant inverse relationship between 24-h systolic BPV and large arterial compliance (r=0.46, P<0.05). No significant correlations were found between small arterial compliance and the 24-h BPV, daytime BPV and night-time BPV analyses in subjects of both groups. CONCLUSION: BPV is higher in hyperlipidemic patients as compared to normolipidemic subjects. Large arterial compliance is negatively correlated with SBP in hyperlipidemic patients.