Elevated white blood cell count is associated with arterial stiffness

Lee, Yong-Jae; Lee, Ji-Won; Kim, Jong-Koo; Lee, Jung-Hyun; Kim, Jin-Hyun; Kwon, Kil-Young; Lee, Hye-Ree; Lee, Duk-Chul; Shim, Jae-Yong

doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2008.02.003

« Previous Next »Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases
Volume 19, Issue 1 , Pages 3-7, January 2009

Elevated white blood cell count is associated with arterial stiffness

Yong-Jae Lee
- Department of Family Medicine, Yonsei University, College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
Ji-Won Lee
- Department of Family Medicine, Yonsei University, College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
Jong-Koo Kim
- Department of Family Medicine, Yonsei University, College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
Jung-Hyun Lee
- Department of Family Medicine, Yonsei University, College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
Jin-Hyun Kim
- Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
Kil-Young Kwon
- Department of Dental Hygiene, University of Eulji, Seoul, South Korea
Hye-Ree Lee
- Department of Family Medicine, Yonsei University, College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
Duk-Chul Lee
- Department of Family Medicine, Yonsei University, College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
Jae-Yong Shim
- Department of Family Medicine, Yonsei University, College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
- Corresponding author. Department of Family Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 146-92 Dogok-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Tel.: +82 2 2019 3482; fax: +82 2 3463 3287.

Received 30 July 2007; received in revised form 15 December 2007; accepted 22 February 2008. published online 06 May 2008.

Abstract

Background and aims

White blood cell (WBC) count, a usual marker of systemic inflammation, is known to be associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The aim of the present study was to determine the association of WBC count with arterial stiffness measured by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV).

Methods and results

We examined the association between WBC count and baPWV in 788 Korean adults (375 men, 413 women) in a health examination program. The odds ratios for a high baPWV were calculated using multivariate logistic regression analysis after adjusting for confounding variables across WBC count quartiles (Q1: ≤5190, Q2: 5200–6080, Q3: 6090–7310, and Q4: ≥7320cells/mm³). A high baPWV was defined as more than 1440cm/s (>75th percentile).

Age-adjusted baPWV mean values gradually increased with WBC quartiles (Q1=1294, Q2=1322, Q3=1347, and Q4=1367cm/s). The odds ratios (95% CI) for a high baPWV in each WBC count quartile were 1.00, 1.34 (0.61–3.00), 2.20 (0.96–5.06), and 2.69 (1.15–6.47) after adjusting for age, sex, cigarette smoking, alcohol intake, regular exercise, body mass index (BMI), mean arterial blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), and uric acid.

Conclusion

These findings indicate that elevated WBC count is associated with arterial stiffness. Accordingly, early detection of an elevated WBC count is important for arterial function and the assessment of cardiovascular risk.

Keywords: White blood cell, Cardiovascular disease, Arterial stiffness, Pulse wave velocity