Arterial Stiffness, Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Fruits Intake in a Rural Population Sample: Data from the Brisighella Heart Study.

INTRODUCTION

There is conflicting information linking fruit and fructose intake with cardiometabolic disorders. The main objective of our study was to evaluate the association between intake of fruits and sugar-sweetened beverages, and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), a non-invasive marker of arterial aging, in a large population sample.

METHODS

For this study, we selected four age and sex-matched subgroups from the last Brisighella Heart Study population survey, after exclusion of those in secondary prevention for cardiovascular diseases, affected by gout and moderate-to-severe chronic kidney disease (defined as eGFR < 60 mL/min), and/or actively treated with direct vasodilating drugs (calcium-antagonists, alpha-blockers, nitrates). The remaining subjects were classified into four groups: (1) low fruit and low sugar-sweetened beverage intake (LFLB), (2) high fruit and low sugar-sweetened beverage intake (HFLB), (3) low fruit and high sugar-sweetened beverage intake (LFHB), (4) high fruit and high sugar-sweetened beverage intake (HFHB).

RESULTS

CfPWV was significantly elevated in subjects consuming a higher fructose load, particularly when it was derived from industrially sweetened beverages (pooled LFHB & HFHB: 9.6 ± 2.3 m/s; pooled LFLB & HFLB: 8.6 ± 2.3 m/s, p < 0.001). Moreover, the main predictors of cfPWV values were serum uric acid (B = 0.391, 95%CI 0.321-0.486, p = 0.001), fructose load from both fruits and sugar-sweetened beverages (B = 0.310, 95%CI 0.099-0.522, p = 0.004), triglycerides (B = 0.228, 95%CI 0.117-0.389, p = 0.018), fasting plasma glucose (B = 0.015, 95%CI 0.008-0.022, p < 0.001) and estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (B = -0.043, 95%CI -0.052--0.035, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

our data suggest that increased intake of fructose derived from industrial sweetened beverages, though not from fruits, is associated with higher pulse wave velocity.