Central Blood Pressure and Subclinical Atherosclerotic Risk in Young Hispanic American Women

Background: The incidence of younger women being hospitalized from cardiovas­cular disease (CVD) events is on the rise. Hispanic women are generally thought to have higher CVD risk factor burden than non-Hispanic White (NHW) women yet Hispanic Americans have lower mortality from CVD. Traditional measures of CVD may not accurately capture CVD risk in His­panic Americans. Hence, the purpose of this study was to assess the impact of ethnicity on vascular reactivity and central hemody­namic load to gain insight into subclinical CVD risk in young women.Methods: Brachial flow-mediated dilation (FMD), low-flow mediated constriction (L-FMC), carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), and pulse wave analysis (from synthesized aortic pressure waveforms) were measured in 25 Hispanic women and 31 NHW women aged between 18-35 years. FMD and L-FMC were combined to provide an index of total vessel reactivity.Results: NHW and Hispanic women did not differ in age or traditional CVD risk factors (P>.05 for all). Compared with NHW women, Hispanic women had greater vascular reactivity (8.7±4.1 vs 11.7±4.1 %, P=.011), lower central pulse pressure (28±5 vs 24±3 mm Hg, P=.001) and lower pressure from wave reflections (12±2 vs 10±1 mm Hg, P=.001). There were no differences in cfPWV between NHW women and Hispanic women (5.4±0.7 vs 5.3±0.7 m/s, P=.73).Conclusion: Young Hispanic women have greater vascular reactivity and lower central pulsatile hemodynamic load compared with NHW women, suggesting lower subclinical CVD risk.Ethn Dis. 2021;31(4):489-500; doi:10.18865/ed.31.4.489