Objective:
The purpose of this study was to establish whether Triglycerides (TGs) are
related to Blood Pressure (BP) variability and whether controlling TG levels leads to better BP
variability management and prevents Cardiovascular Disease (CVD).
Methods:
In this study, we enrolled 106 hypertensive patients and 80 non-hypertensive patients.
Pearson correlation and partial correlation analyses were used to define the relationships between
TG levels and BP variability in all subjects. Patients with hypertension were divided into two subgroups
according to TG level: Group A (TG<1.7 mmol/L) and Group B (TG>=1.7 mmol/L). The
heterogeneity between the two subgroups was compared using t tests and covariance analysis.
Results:
TG levels and BP variability were significantly different between the hypertensive and
non-hypertensive patients. Two-tailed Pearson correlation tests showed that TG levels are positively
associated with many BP variability measures in all subjects. After reducing other confounding
factors, the partial correlation analysis revealed that TG levels are still related to the Standard Deviation
(SD), Coefficient of Variation (CV) of nighttime systolic blood pressure and CV of
nighttime diastolic blood pressure, respectively (each p<0.05). In the subgroups, group A had a
lower SD of nighttime Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP_night_SD; 11.39±3.80 and 13.39±4.16,
p=0.011), CV of nighttime systolic blood pressure (SBP_night_CV; 0.09±0.03 and 0.11±0.03,
p=0.014) and average real variability of nighttime systolic blood pressure (SBP_night_ARV;
10.99±3.98 and 12.6±3.95, p=0.024) compared with group B, even after adjusting for age and other
lipid indicators.
Conclusion:
TG levels are significantly associated with BP variability and hypertriglyceridemia,
which affects blood pressure variability before causing target organ damage.
Response to Ayubi et al.: ‘Left atrial dimension is related to blood pressure variability in newly diagnosed untreated hypertensive patients: methodological and statistical issues’
