Brachial artery intima-media thickness and echogenicity in relation to lipids and markers of oxidative stress in elderly subjects:--the prospective investigation of the vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS) Study.

The aim of the present study was to relate brachial artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and the grey scale median of the intima-media complex (IM-GSM) to traditional cardiovascular risk factors and markers of inflammation and oxidative stress. In the Prospective Study of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS) study, a population-based study of 1016 subjects aged 70, brachial artery IMT and IM-GSM, who were evaluated by ultrasound. Lipids, thirteen markers of inflammation and nine markers of oxidative stress were measured. The Framingham risk score was related to IMT (p < 0.0001), but not to the IM-GSM. In univariate analysis, HDL-cholesterol, serum triglycerides, fasting glucose, smoking, HOMA insulin resistance index and oxidized LDL levels were related to IMT. HDL and LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, VCAM-1, e-selectin, leukocyte count, conjugated diens, baseline conjugated diens (BCD)-LDL, antibodies to oxLDL, the GSSG/GSH glutathione ratio and homocysteine were related to IM-GSM. In multiple regression models, HDL-cholesterol, fasting glucose and oxLDL levels were the independently related to IMT (p = 0.01-0.04), while serum triglycerides, BCD-LDL and the GSSG/GSH ratio were independently related to IM-GSM (p = 0.0001-0.004). In conclusion, in addition to traditional lipid variables, markers of oxidative stress were associated with both thickness and echogenicity of the brachial artery intima-media complex. Thus, both thickness and echogenicity of the brachial artery intima-media complex might be useful biomarkers in the future.