Impact of dyslipidaemia on arterial structure and function in urban Indigenous Australians

Maple-Brown, Louise J.; Cunningham, Joan; Barry, Robert E.; Leylsey, Loyla; O’Rourke, Michael F.; Celermajer, David S.; O’Dea, Kerin

doi:10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2008.03.017

« Previous Next »Atherosclerosis
Volume 202, Issue 1 , Pages 248-254, January 2009

Impact of dyslipidaemia on arterial structure and function in urban Indigenous Australians

Louise J. Maple-Brown
- Menzies School of Health Research, Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia
- Corresponding author at: Menzies School of Health Research, P.O. Box 41096, Casuarina, NT 0811, Australia. Tel.: +61 8 8922 8697; fax: +61 8 8922 8999.
Joan Cunningham
- Menzies School of Health Research, Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia
Robert E. Barry
- UCD School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Ireland
Loyla Leylsey
- Menzies School of Health Research, Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia
Michael F. O’Rourke
- University of New South Wales and St. Vincents Clinic, Sydney, Australia
David S. Celermajer
- Department of Cardiology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia
Kerin O’Dea
- Menzies School of Health Research, Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia
- Department of Medicine (University of Melbourne), St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

Received 8 October 2007; received in revised form 13 March 2008; accepted 19 March 2008. published online 09 May 2008.

Abstract

Background

Premature cardiovascular disease (CDV) is highly prevalent in urban Indigenous Australians. We studied arterial structure and function in 144 volunteers aged 15–66 years to assess the role of dyslipidaemia and other traditional vascular risk factors on cardiovascular risk in young and older urban Indigenous Australians.

Methods

We assessed carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) by high-resolution B-mode ultrasound imaging of the common carotid artery and peripheral wave reflection using applanation tonometry to obtain the aortic augmentation index (AI) in Indigenous Australian participants of the Darwin Region Urban Indigenous Diabetes (DRUID) study.

Results

Participants aged 15–24 years demonstrated fewer cardiovascular risk factors than the older group (25–66 years) and predictors of CIMT and AI differed between younger and older groups. CIMT was higher in the older group (0.67mm vs. 0.61mm, p=0.004) and in those with diabetes (0.81mm vs. 0.67mm, p<0.001). AI was higher in the older group (24% vs. 0%, p<0.001), but was not affected by diabetes status. On multivariate regression analysis, low HDL-cholesterol was the only independent predictor of CIMT in the younger group; triglycerides, heart rate (inverse) and height (inverse) were independent predictors of AI in the same group.

Conclusion

Dyslipidaemia (low HDL-cholesterol or elevated triglycerides) is independently associated with non-invasive measures of cardiovascular disease in a relatively healthy and young subgroup of this high-risk population. We propose that triglycerides and low HDL-cholesterol may represent the most useful commonly measured clinical indicators of cardiovascular risk in young, urban Indigenous Australians.

Keywords: Arterial stiffness, Central obesity, Augmentation index, Carotid intima-media thickness, Indigenous Australians, Dyslipidaemia