OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between arterial stiffness and pre-diabetes when assessed by the new glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) 5.7%-6.4% criterion or by impaired fasting glucose in middle aged Chinese.

METHODS1122 adults aged 55 years or younger in the health examination centers for physical check-ups were enrolled in the two large-sized Tertiary Comprehensive Hospitals in Beijing from June 2011 to June 2012 after excluding those who previously had been diagnosed or treated as diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Subjects with a diagnosis of pre-diabetes according to impaired fasting glucose (IFG) (fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels at 5.6-6.9 mmol/L), HbA1c levels at 5.7%-6.4%, or both, were classified into four groups for observation: (1) Normoglycaemia (HbA1c<5.7% and FPG <5.6 mmol/L); (2) IFG alone (FPG levels at 5.6-6.9 mmol/L and HbA1c<5.7% ); (3) HbA1c 5.7%-6.4% alone (HbA1c levels at 5.7%-6.4% and FPG <5.6 mmol/L); and (4) both HbA1c 5.7%-6.4% and IFG (HbA1c levels at 5.7%-6.4% and FPG levels at 5.6-6.9 mmol/L). All subjects were measured for weight, height, waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, lipid profile and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV).

RESULTSThe mean values of baPWV were 1282±8, 1311±10, 1398±30, and 1418±27 cm/s (Mean±SE) in Normoglycaemia, HbA1c 5.7%-6.4% alone, IFG alone and the both HbA1c 5.7%-6.4% and IFG groups, respectively. After adjusting for age, gender, blood pressure, BMI and triglyceride, baPWV was significantly higher in subjects with both HbA1c 5.7%-6.4% and IFG compared among the subjects with Normoglycaemia (1350±14 vs. 1301±6 cm/s, P=0.002) and HbA1c 5.7%-6.4% alone (1350±14 vs. 1309±8 cm/s, P=0.013).

CONCLUSIONSubjects with pre-diabetes exhibited a greater arterial stiffness.