We examined the associations of parental longevity with carotid intima-media thickness, carotid plaques, and aortic arterial stiffness in adult offspring.
A population of 1117 volunteers who participated in the SUVIMAX Vascular Study (mean age, 59.7 years; 49.0% women) were included. Carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity (PWV) was used to assess aortic stiffness. Carotid B-mode ultrasound examination included measurements (at sites free of plaque) of intima-media thickness at the common carotid arteries and assessment of atherosclerotic plaques in the extracranial carotid arteries.
The prevalence of carotid plaques in subjects whose fathers had died at <65 years, in those whose fathers were alive at 65 years but who had died by 80 years, and in those whose fathers were alive at 80 years was 40.4%, 30.4%, and 28.9%, respectively (P<0.001). The multivariate odds ratios of carotid plaques in the 3 groups of paternal longevity, adjusted for conventional cardiovascular risk factors, were 1, 0.68 (95% CI, 0.48 to 0.96), and 0.69 (95% CI, 0.49 to 0.98), respectively. The mean common carotid arteries intima-media thickness was higher in subjects with premature paternal death in univariate (P<0.007) but not in multivariate (P=0.39) analyses. Mean PWV decreased with increasing paternal longevity in both univariate and multivariate analyses. The multivariate-adjusted means of PWV in the 3 groups of paternal longevity were 11.9+/-0.14, 11.7+/-0.12, and 11.0+/-0.12 m/s (P<0.0001), respectively. In contrast, neither B-mode ultrasound measurements nor PWV measurements were associated with maternal longevity.
These results may indicate that there are modifications of structure and function of large arteries according to paternal longevity.