Increased arterial stiffness – similar findings in patients with inflammatory bowel disease without prior hypertension or diabetes and in patients with well-controlled hypertension

Purpose: Chronic inflammatory diseases are related with earlier onset of atherosclerosis. We hypothesized that inflammatory bowel disease patients with chronic, systemic inflammation have an increased arterial stiffness associated with the disease duration. Also, we wanted to compare arterial stiffness markers between inflammatory bowel disease and well-controlled hypertension patients. Materials and methods: A total of 89 inflammatory bowel disease patients (60 patients with Crohn’s disease and 29 patients with ulcerative colitis, age range 20–64 years) without history of arterial hypertension or diabetes were enrolled and age matched with a control group of patients (73 patients, age range 25–69 years, 41 (56.1%) males) with known history of well-controlled arterial hypertension. We have used a noninvasive device that simultaneously measures brachial blood pressure and estimates PWV and AIx in inflammatory bowel disease and hypertension groups of patients. Results: Patients with pathological PWV values were significantly older, had significantly longer duration of inflammatory bowel disease, higher values of serum cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol, and higher AIx (17.4% vs. 9.8%) (all p