Arterial stiffness

Not to be confused with Atherosclerosis or arteriosclerosis.
Arterial stiffness
Biological systemarteries

Arterial stiffness occurs as a consequence of biological aging and arteriosclerosis.[1] Inflammation plays a major role in arteriosclerosis development, and consequently it is a major contributor in large arteries stiffening.[2] Increased arterial stiffness is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction, hypertension, heart failure, and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in the developed world.[3][4][5] The World Health Organization predicts that in 2010, cardiovascular disease will also be the leading killer in the developing world and represents a major global health problem.[citation needed]

Several degenerative changes that occur with age in the walls of large elastic arteries are thought to contribute to increased stiffening over time, including the mechanical fraying of lamellar elastin structures within the wall due to repeated cycles of mechanical stress; changes in the kind and increases in the content of arterial collagen proteins, partially as a compensatory mechanism against the loss of arterial elastin and partially due to fibrosis; and crosslinking of adjacent collagen fibers by advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs).[6]

  1. ^ Winder, Nick R.; Reeve, Emily H.; Walker, Ashley E. (2021-01-01). "Large artery stiffness and brain health: insights from animal models". American Journal of Physiology. Heart and Circulatory Physiology. 320 (1): H424–H431. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00696.2020. ISSN 0363-6135. PMC 7847068. PMID 33164578.
  2. ^ Mozos I, Malainer C, Horbańczuk J, Gug C, Stoian D, Luca CT, Atanasov AG. Inflammatory Markers for Arterial Stiffness in Cardiovascular Diseases. Front Immunol. 2017 Aug 31;8:1058. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.01058.
  3. ^ Demir S, Akpınar O, Akkus O, Nas K, Unal I, Molnar F, et al. The prognostic value of arterial stiffness in systolic heart failure. Cardiol J 2013; 20:665–671.
  4. ^ Laurent S, Boutouyrie P, Asmar R, Gautier I, Laloux B, Guize L, et al. Aortic stiffness is an independent predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in hypertensive patients. Hypertension 2001; 37:1236–1241.
  5. ^ Edgell H., Stickland M.K., Maclean J.E. A simplified measurement of pulse wave velocity is not inferior to standard measurement in young adults and children. Blood Press. Monit.. 2016;21(3):192-195. doi:10.1097/MBP.0000000000000183
  6. ^ Dietz, J (2007). "Arterial stiffness and extracellular matrix". Atherosclerosis, Large Arteries and Cardiovascular Risk. Advances in Cardiology. Vol. 44. pp. 76–95. doi:10.1159/000096722. ISBN 978-3-8055-8176-9. PMID 17075200. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)