Arterial stiffness and influences of the metabolic syndrome: A cross-countries study

We studied 20,570 subjects from 9 cohorts representing 8 different European countries and the US participating in the MARE Consortium. MetS was defined in accordance with NCEP ATPIII criteria as the simultaneous alteration in >= 3 of the 5 components: abdominal obesity (W), high triglycerides (T), low HDL cholesterol (H), elevated blood pressure (B), and elevated fasting glucose (G). PWV measured in each cohort was "normalized" to account for different acquisition methods.

Specific clusters of metabolic syndrome (MetS) components impact differentially on arterial stiffness, indexed as pulse wave velocity (PWV). Of note, in several population-based studies participating in the MARE (Metabolic syndrome and Arteries REsearch) Consortium the occurrence of specific clusters of MetS differed markedly across Europe and the US. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether specific clusters of MetS are consistently associated with stiffer arteries in different populations.