(Pre-) atherosclerotic vessel changes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and eosinophilia.

BACKGROUND

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is accompanied by systemic inflammation and an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis and abdominal aortic aneurysms. Eosinophilic inflammation is common in COPD, but little is known about the role of eosinophilia in atherogenesis.

OBJECTIVE

The study aims to investigate a possible link between the blood eosinophil count (BEC) in stable COPD patients and arterial vessel changes of the infrarenal abdominal aorta (AA) and common carotid arteries (CCAs).

METHODS

One hundred seven patients were acquired. Ultrasonography imaging was employed to assess atherosclerotic plaques and AA diameter, vascular speckle tracking was used to evaluate vessel movement by vascular strains of the AA and CCAs. Patients were divided into two groups, comparing a low (< 300/µl) and high (≥ 300/µl) BEC. The circumferential (rad.) strains and aortic diameter were defined as primary outcome measures.

RESULTS

The strains values of the left and right CCA did not differ between the groups (left CCA: 3.0 ± 1.6% vs. 3.6 ± 1.5%, p = .053, right CCA: 3.5 ± 1.8% vs. 4.1 ± 1.8%, p = .127), neither did the aortic diameter (1.88 ± 0.8 vs. 1.79 ± 0.8 cm, p = .674) or atherosclerotic plaque burden. There were lower strain values of the abdominal aorta (3.6 ± 1.5 vs. 2.8 ± 1.4, p = .014), reduced radial displacement (0.16 ± 0.1 vs. 0.11 ± 0.1 mm, p = .011) and an association of BEC and strain values in linear regression analysis (b = -0.001 [95% CI: -0.003-0.001], p = .044), indicating an impaired vascular movement. However, it could not detect an association between BEC and strains of the CCAs (p = .664 resp. .576) or the aortic diameter (p = .672).

CONCLUSION

The study shows no persuasive association between BEC in COPD and vascular strain values or aortic diameter. However, BEC was associated with reduced movement of the AA.