Increased arterial stiffness predicts cardiovascular disease, which is associated with deteriorated pulmonary function and worsened chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The present study examined whether arterial function was associated with pulmonary function in postmenopausal women.

This study evaluated 41 postmenopausal women (age range: 59–85 years). Arterial function was measured as central systolic blood pressure (cSBP), central pulse pressure (cPP), brachial systolic BP (bSBP), brachial diastolic BP (bDBP), brachial PP (bPP), brachial mean arterial pressure (bMAP) and the augmentation index (AIx). AIx was adjusted for a heart rate of 75 beats per minute (bpm) (AIx@75) and served as the index of arterial stiffness determined by the reflected wave at the central artery. Pulmonary function was measured as forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁) and the FEV₁/FVC ratio.

Univariate regression analysis demonstrated that cPP, bDBP and bPP were correlated with FVC and FEV₁ (p<0.05, respectively), while AI@75 was correlated with FVC, FEV₁ and FEV₁/FVC ratio (p<0.01, respectively). A stepwise multivariate regression analysis revealed that bDBP was independently associated with FVC (p=0.032), while AI@75 was independently associated with FVC, FEV₁ and FEV₁/FVC ratio (p=0.001, p=0.003 and p=0.017, respectively). The FVC, FEV₁ and FEV₁/FVC ratio were lower in participants with a high AIx versus with a low AIx (p=0.0001, p=0.001 and p=0.044, respectively).

These results suggest that increased AIx is associated with lower pulmonary function in postmenopausal women.