Influence on aerobic fitness on aortic stiffness in apparently healthy Caucasian and African-American subjects

Background Previous research suggests that arterial stiffness may be significantly higher in African-Americans compared to Caucasians. However, the influence of aerobic fitness on the putative difference in arterial stiffness between these groups has not been previously investigated. Methods Two hundred forty-eight subjects (215 Caucasian, 33 African-American) participated in this study. Within one week following enrollment, subjects underwent body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) assessment, cardiopulmonary exercise testing and measurement of aortic wave velocity (AWV, m/s) via magnetic resonance imaging. Initially, 33 Caucasian subjects were randomly age (± 4 years) and sex-matched (10 male/23 female) to the African-American subjects. 25 Caucasian subjects were then randomly matched for age (± 4 years), sex (7 male/18 female) and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2Max ± 7 mlO2 kg− 1 min− 1) to the African-American subjects. Matching based upon VO2Max criteria was not possible for 8 African-American subjects. Results In the age and sex-matched analysis, Caucasian subjects demonstrated a significantly higher VO2Max (38.3 ± 9.6 vs. 27.9 ± 8.6 mlO2 kg− 1 min− 1, p < 0.001) and lower BMI (24.5 ± 3.2 vs. 29.3 ± 6.2 kg/m2, p < 0.001) and AWV (5.8 ± 1.7 vs. 6.7 ± 1.5 m/s, p = 0.03). However, when subjects were matched for age, sex and VO2Max, the differences in both BMI (26.8 ± 5.5 vs. 27.9 ± 5.6 kg/m2, p = 0.45) and AWV (6.1 ± 1.8 vs. 6.5 ± 1.6 m/s, p = 0.77) were insignificant. Conclusions The results of the present study suggest that previously reported differences in arterial stiffness between Caucasians and African-Americans are at least partially a consequence of a lower level of aerobic fitness in the latter group, a phenomenon that has also been previously demonstrated.