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Assisted Reproductive Technologies‐Induced Premature Vascular Ageing Persists and Evolves into Arterial Hypertension in Adolescents
Author(s) -
Rexhaj Emrush,
Arx Robert,
Cerny David,
Soria Rodrigo,
Bouillet Elisa,
Sartori Claudio,
Scherrer Urs,
Rimoldi Stefano
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.957.9
Subject(s) - arterial stiffness , pulse wave velocity , medicine , ambulatory blood pressure , blood pressure , endothelial dysfunction , ageing , population , cardiology , young adult , intima media thickness , carotid arteries , environmental health
Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) induce vascular dysfunction and premature vascular ageing in young apparently healthy children and mice (Scherrer et al. Circulation 2012; Rexhaj et al. JCI 2013). In adult ART mice, premature vascular ageing translates into arterial hypertension. Given the young age of the human ART population, the evolution and long‐term consequences of ART induced vascular alterations are unknown. We speculated that vascular alterations persist in ART adolescents and that arterial hypertension represents the first clinically relevant end‐point of this problem in humans. We, therefore, 5 years after the initial assessment, reassessed vascular function (flow mediated dilation, FMD, pulse wave velocity, PWV, and carotid intima media thickness, IMT) in 54 ART young adults (16.4,y) and 43 controls (17.6,y) together with 24h ambulatory blood pressure measurements. The main new findings were 2‐fold: First, premature vascular ageing persisted in ART adolescents, as evidenced by decreased FMD (P<.01), and increased PWV (P=.039) and IMT (P<.01), compared to controls. Endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness were comparable to the one observed 5 years ago, whereas IMT had increased in ART subjects (P<.01). Second and most importantly, 24h blood pressure was markedly higher in ART than in control subjects (119.8±1.3 vs. 115.7±1.1, P=.02, vs. ctrl). These findings provide the first evidence that ART‐induced premature vascular ageing persists in adolescents and translates into arterial hypertension. These data further underscore the potential of ART to increase cardiovascular risk in this exponentially growing population.