Long-term exposure to airborne particles and arterial stiffness: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

BackgroundIncreased arterial stiffness could represent an intermediate subclinical outcome in the mechanistic pathway underlying associations between average long-term pollution exposure and cardiovascular events.ObjectiveWe hypothesized that 20 years of exposure to particulate matter (PM) ≤ 2.5 and 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5 and PM10, respectively) would be positively associated with arterial stiffness in 3,996 participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) who were seen at six U.S. study sites.MethodsWe assigned pollution exposure during two decades preceding a clinical exam (2000–2002) using observed PM10 from monitors nearest participants’ residences and PM10 and PM2.5 imputed from a space-time model. We examined three log-transformed arterial stiffness outcome measures: Young’s modulus (YM) from carotid artery ultrasound and large (C1) and small (C2) artery vessel compliance from the radial artery pulse wave. All associations are expressed per 10 μg/m3 increment in PM an...