Insulin-resistance HCV infection-related affects vascular stiffness in normotensives

Abstract Background and Aims . Arterial stiffness evaluated as pulse wave velocity, is an early marker of vascular damage and an independent predictor for cardiovascular events. We investigated if the insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia chronic hepatitis C virus infection-related could influence arterial stiffness. Methods . We enrolled 260 outpatients matched for age, body mass index, gender, ethnicity: 52 with never-treated uncomplicated chronic hepatitis C virus infection (HCV+ ), 104 never-treated hypertensives (HT) and 104 healthy subjects (NT). Pulse wave velocity was evaluated by a validated system employing high-fidelity applanation tonometry. We also measured: fasting plasma glucose and insulin, total, LDL- and HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, creatinine, e-GFR-EPI, HOMA, quantitative HCV-RNA. Results . HCV+ patients with respect to NT had an increased pulse wave velocity (7.9 ± 2.1 vs 6.4 ± 2.1 m/s; P