Objectives: Vascular aging, as assessed by structural and functional properties of the arteries, is an independent indicator of cardiovascular risk. We investigated the effect of cardiovascular risk factors (RFs) on the progression of vascular aging.

Methods: 142 subjects (mean age 51.9±10.8 years, 94 men) with no established cardiovascular disease were investigated in 2 examinations over a 2-year period. Subjects were classified at baseline according to their number of cardiovascular RFs (from zero to two and more). The RFs were hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking and diabetes. Subjects had at the beginning and end of the study determinations of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), aortic augmentation index corrected for heart rate (AIx75), brachial flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). Based on these measurements the annual absolute changes were calculated.

Results: Subjects with more RFs had a gradual higher annual progression of cfPWV (0.089 m/s/year for no RF, 0.141 m/s/year for 1 RF and 0.334 m/s/year for more than 2 RFs; p=0.009) after adjusting for relevant confounders. Annual progression of AIx75 was statistically different between groups when only subjects ≤55 years where considered (1.17%/year for no RF, 1.52%/year for 1 RF and 3.15%/year for more than 2 RFs, p=0.045). Subjects with more RFs did not show an association with a gradual higher annual deterioration of FMD or cIMT. There was also a trend for a statistical association between the annual rate of PWV and FMD (P=0.07)

Conclusions: The presence of more classical RFs is associated with accelerated progression of vascular aging.