Aging of the vascular wall: serum concentration of elastin peptides and elastase inhibitors in relation to cardiovascular risk factors. The EVA study.

The relations of biological markers of extracellular matrix (plasma elastin peptides and elastase inhibitors) to the clinical history of cardiovascular diseases and risk factors for atherosclerosis were examined in a large population study (the EVA Study) on vascular and cognitive aging performed in 1389 men and women aged 59-71 years. A moderate decrease in elastin peptides was observed in women with a self-reported history of coronary heart disease (P < 0.091) and stroke (P < 0.03) as well as with diabetes (P < 0.043). Similar but non-significant trends were found in men. Furthermore, elastin peptides were significantly and positively correlated to HDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1 in both sexes. On the other hand, elastase inhibitor titers were significantly higher in women than in men. A moderate increase was also found in men (P < 0.097) and women (P < 0.068) with a history of coronary heart disease that reached significance level after pooling both sexes (P < 0.014). Furthermore, elastase inhibitor titers were significantly and positively related to fibrinogen and C reactive protein in either sex. No consistent associations were observed between both biological markers of extracellular matrix and age, blood pressure, body mass index and tobacco or alcohol consumption. These results suggest that a decrease in elastin peptides and an increase in elastase inhibitors might be associated with risk factors of atherogenesis as well as with atherosclerosis-related diseases.