Relation of leisure-time physical activity to structural and functional arterial properties of the common carotid artery in male subjects

The structure and function of central arteries are altered with advancing a ge. These changes comprise arterial dilation, intima-media thickening and i ncrease in stiffness. Arterial wall hypertrophy and increased stiffness are associated with major cardiovascular disease. In contrast to this, physica l activity has been found to be inversely related to the incidence of major cardiovascular disease and mortality in humans. However, conflicting data exist on the effect of physical activity on arterial stiffness and very lit tle data about its association with structural arterial properties. We ther efore investigated the association of the self-selected leisure-time physic al activity (LTPA), assessed by a self-administered questionnaire, with the structure and function of the common carotid artery, examined with high-re solution ultrasound, in 51 male subjects aged between 16 and 78 years. We f ound that men with a higher level of LTPA (> 38.1 MET*h/week = H-LTPA) (met abolic equivalent value; 1 MET = energy expended by a person at rest, i.e. approximate to 3.5 mi oxygen uptake/kg body mass or 1 kcal/kg per h) had a significantly lower arterial stiffness (P = 0.02) than men with lower level s ( <: 38.1 MET*h/week = L-LTPA) (4.32 +/- 1.17 versus 5.75 +/- 1.21 x 10(6 ) cm(-2)). In multiple regression analyses, with several atherosclerotic ri sk factors as correlating variables with arterial stiffness, LTPA persisted as an independent predictor of arterial stiffness (adjusted R-2=0.19) in a ddition to apolipoprotein B level (adjusted R-2=0.33). The study could not, however, show an association of LTPA with reduced intima-media thickness ( L-LTPA = 0.66 +/- 0.15 versus H-LTPA 0.66 +/- 0.14) or arterial dilation of diastolic diameter (L-LTPA = 6.34 +/- 0.64 versus H-LTPA 6.08 +/- 0.69). H owever, the positive association of LTPA with several parameters, which cor related inversely with intima-media thickness, may be taken as an indicator for a possible positive (not visible in an ultrasonic examination of the c ommon carotid artery) effect of LTPA on the arterial wall structure. (C) 19 99 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.