Adriaan Jacobs1, Marlien Pieters2, Aletta E Schutte3. 1. Centre of Excellence for Nutrition (CEN), North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa; Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART), Medical Research Council Unit for Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa. Electronic address: adriaan.jacobs@nwu.ac.za. 2. Centre of Excellence for Nutrition (CEN), North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa. Electronic address: marlien.pieters@nwu.ac.za. 3. Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART), Medical Research Council Unit for Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa; School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: a.schutte@unsw.edu.au.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The association between plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and blood pressure is well established, but it is debatable whether raised PAI-1 levels precede or result from raised blood pressure. Furthermore, it is unclear whether this association already exists in the absence of overt hypertension and to what degree it is influenced by health behaviours. Our aim was to investigate the association of 24 h blood pressure with PAI-1 activity (PAI-1act) in a young, healthy cohort, and to assess the influence of alcohol consumption and smoking on these associations. METHODS AND RESULTS: Healthy black and white men and women (aged 20-30 years, n = 1156) were cross-sectionally analysed. Statistical analysis was performed first split by ethnicity and sex and then by alcohol consumption and smoking. Regression analyses adjusted for age revealed positive associations of 24 h blood pressure with PAI-1act in most groups (p < 0.05). In multivariate-adjusted analyses, significance was lost in all groups except black men, who also had higher monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and von Willebrand factor antigen (vWFag) compared to white men (both p < 0.001). Analyses in black men, split by self-reported alcohol use and smoking, revealed 24 h blood pressure-PAI-1act associations only in alcohol users (24 h SBP [B = 4.22, p < 0.001], DBP [B = 2.04, p = 0.015] and PP [B = 2.18, p = 0.013]) and smokers (24 h SBP [B = 6.10, p < 0.001] and PP [B = 4.33, p = 0.001]). CONCLUSION: Our findings support a positive association between 24 h blood pressure and PAI-1, particularly in individuals with higher MCP-1 and vWFag levels. Furthermore, smoking and alcohol consumption play an important role in modifying the association between blood pressure and PAI-1.
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The association between plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and blood pressure is well established, but it is debatable whether raised PAI-1 levels precede or result from raised blood pressure. Furthermore, it is unclear whether this association already exists in the absence of overt hypertension and to what degree it is influenced by health behaviours. Our aim was to investigate the association of 24 h blood pressure with PAI-1 activity (PAI-1act) in a young, healthy cohort, and to assess the influence of alcohol consumption and smoking on these associations. METHODS AND RESULTS: Healthy black and white men and women (aged 20-30 years, n = 1156) were cross-sectionally analysed. Statistical analysis was performed first split by ethnicity and sex and then by alcohol consumption and smoking. Regression analyses adjusted for age revealed positive associations of 24 h blood pressure with PAI-1act in most groups (p < 0.05). In multivariate-adjusted analyses, significance was lost in all groups except black men, who also had higher monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and von Willebrand factor antigen (vWFag) compared to white men (both p < 0.001). Analyses in black men, split by self-reported alcohol use and smoking, revealed 24 h blood pressure-PAI-1act associations only in alcohol users (24 h SBP [B = 4.22, p < 0.001], DBP [B = 2.04, p = 0.015] and PP [B = 2.18, p = 0.013]) and smokers (24 h SBP [B = 6.10, p < 0.001] and PP [B = 4.33, p = 0.001]). CONCLUSION: Our findings support a positive association between 24 h blood pressure and PAI-1, particularly in individuals with higher MCP-1 and vWFag levels. Furthermore, smoking and alcohol consumption play an important role in modifying the association between blood pressure and PAI-1.