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Background Ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) is related to a low cardiovascular disease risk profile. This study aimed to investigate CVH metrics with both the biomarkers and markers of subclinical impairments of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in subjects from central south China. Methods The ideal CVH score (non-smoking status; ideal body mass index; regular physical activity; healthy diet; and an optimal serum cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose profile; 1 point for each; total score: 0–7) was collected from 3009 participants without a history of CVDs. Subclinical biomarkers were assessed using C-reactive protein, homocysteine, and microalbuminuria. The presence of subclinical disease markers was defined as having at least one of the following: increased carotid intima-media thickness, carotid plaque, left ventricular hypertrophy, left ventricular systolic dysfunction, or a reduced ankle-brachial index. The association of biomarkers and markers with the CVH score was evaluated using multivariate logistic regression and linear regression analyses. Results Only 0.2% of the study participants met all 7 ideal CVH metrics (CVH score = 7). Compared to the female participants, the male participants had poorer CVH profiles and a higher incidence of subclinical lesions (P

Associations between the 14-point CVH score (per 1-unit increase) and each component of the subclinical disease markers stratified by gender. (DOCX 51 kb)

Associations between the 14-point CVH score (per 1- unit increase) and number of the subclinical disease markers stratified by gender. (DOCX 50 kb)

Associations between the 14-point CVH score (per 1-unit increase) and the log-transformed subclinical biomarker level stratified by gender. (DOCX 48 kb)

Creation of the 14-point CVH score. (DOCX 52 kb)

We examined the relationship of several cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) to brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) in Chinese subjects.This was a cross-sectional study. In 2,511 Chinese adults (age 46.86±9.52 years, 1,891 men and 620 women) recruited from people who underwent health screening at The Third Xiangya Hospital, patients' CVRF [age, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP), cholesterol parameters, creatinine (Cr), uric acid (UA), glucose level and smoking] and prevalence of present disease (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease and hyperlipidemia) were investigated.Multivariate analysis revealed that FMD negative correlated with age (β=-0.29, P0.001), gender (β=-0.12, P0.001), BMI (β=-0.12, P=0.001), WC (β=-0.10, P=0.011), systolic BP (SBP) (β=-0.12, P0.001), fasting glucose (β=-0.04, P=0.009), total cholesterol (TC) (β=-0.04, P=0.014), smoking (β=-0.05, P=0.003), and baseline brachial artery diameter (β=-0.35, P0.001). FMD decreased with increasing age in both genders. In women, FMD was higher than men and age-related decline in FMD was steepest after age 40; FMD was similar in men above 55 years old.In Chinese subjects, FMD may be a usefully marker of CVRF. Age, gender, BMI, WC, SBP, fasting glucose, TC, smoking, and baseline brachial artery diameter were independent variables related to the impairment of FMD. The influence of CVRF on endothelial function is more in women than men.

Background The American Heart Association (AHA) recently developed definitions of cardiovascular health for adults and children based on 7 cardiovascular disease risk factors or health behaviors. We applied this new construct to examine the cardiovascular health status in adult Chinese urban residents. Methods Data of 1,012,418 subjects aged 20–65years (55% were men; mean age, 42.4years) who received health examination at 58 health examination centers across China was analyzed. The AHA ideal health behaviors index and ideal health factor index were evaluated among the subjects. Results Only 0.6% of male and 2.6% of female subjects met all 7 health components, and only 39.1% of the subjects met 5 or more components of ideal cardiovascular health. The prevalence of "ideal", "intermediate" and "poor" cardiovascular health was 1.5%, 33.9% and 64.6%, respectively. Conclusion About two-thirds of the adult Chinese urban population has "poor" cardiovascular health. Comprehensive individual and population-based interventions must be developed to improve cardiovascular health status in China.

BACKGROUND: The presence of food-specific IgG antibodies in human serum may be useful for diagnosis of adverse food reactions. However, the clinical utility of testing for such antibodies remains very controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the serum levels and population distribution of food-specific IgGs and their association with chronic symptoms in a large-scale Chinese population. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A total of 21305 adult participants from different regions of China had 14 type of food-specific serum IgG antibodies that were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Among these, 5,394 participants were randomly chosen to complete follow-up questionnaire surveys on their dietary characteristics and chronic symptoms. The concentrations of food-specific IgGs against 14 foods ranged from a median (interquartile range) of 7.3 (3.8, 12.6) U/mL of pork-specific IgG to 42.3 (28.8, 60.2) U/mL of crab-specific IgG. The concentration of food-specific IgGs was closely related to gender; after adjustment for region and age, women had higher concentrations of food-specific IgGs against all of the 14 foods except chicken (regression coefficient (95% CI): 0.01 (-0.003, 0.023); P = 0.129) and corn (0.002 (-0.013, 0.016); P = 0.825). Similar results were also found in the relationship of geographic region to the food-specific IgG concentrations for the 14 foods. Chronic symptoms were negatively associated with the concentrations of a few food-specific IgGs, and were positively associated with the concentrations of other food-specific IgGs. CONCLUSIONS: The levels of food-specific IgGs were variable both in healthy and in symptomatic Chinese adults. These findings raise awareness that demographic factors, the type of food and specific chronic symptoms should be considered before food elimination treatment based on IgG testing in patients with chronic symptoms is used in clinical practice.