Korean J Fam Med.  2018 Sep;39(5):279-283. 10.4082/kjfm.17.0035.

Higher Serum Calcium Levels Are Associated with Preclinical Peripheral Arterial Disease among the Apparently Healthy Individuals

• Kim HJ
• Kim MR
• Park JK
• Lee YJ
• Park B

• KMID: 2422106
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4082/kjfm.17.0035

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Epidemiological studies suggest that serum calcium levels correlate with cardiovascular events. An ankle-brachial index (ABI) between 0.9 and 1.00 is a surrogate estimation of preclinical peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Prior studies have shown that an ABI of 0.9-1.0 is also associated with endothelial dysfunction. Therefore, we sought to investigate the relationship between serum calcium levels and preclinical PAD in apparently healthy Korean individuals.
METHODS
We evaluated the association between serum calcium levels and preclinical PAD in 596 participants (334 males, 262 females) in a health examination program. Preclinical PAD was defined by an ABI of 0.9-1.0. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine whether the serum calcium level was an independent determinant of preclinical PAD.
RESULTS
The overall prevalence of preclinical PAD was 14.3%. The mean age was 44.0±12.5 years in the non-PAD group and 48.3±11.4 years in the preclinical PAD group (P=0.001). After adjusting for age, gender, systolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, C-reactive protein, g-glutamyltransferase, uric acid, hypertension medication, diabetes medication, and hyperlipidemia medication, the odds ratio (95% confidence intervals) for preclinical PAD was 2.28 (1.02-5.11) with a 1-mg/dL increase in the serum calcium.
CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that increased serum calcium is independently and positively associated with preclinical PAD regardless of the presence of classic cardiovascular risk factors.

Keyword

Serum Calcium Levels; Preclinical Peripheral Arterial Disease; Ankle Brachial Index; Cardiovascular Diseases

MeSH Terms

Ankle Brachial Index
Blood Glucose
Blood Pressure
C-Reactive Protein
Calcium*
Cardiovascular Diseases
Cholesterol
Epidemiologic Studies
Fasting
Humans
Hyperlipidemias
Hypertension
Lipoproteins
Logistic Models
Male
Odds Ratio
Peripheral Arterial Disease*
Prevalence
Risk Factors
Triglycerides
Uric Acid
C-Reactive Protein
Calcium
Cholesterol
Lipoproteins
Triglycerides
Uric Acid