High leptin levels are associated with an unfavorable cardiometabolic risk profile. A number of studies found a positive association between leptin and vascular damage, but to date, no observational study has evaluated a potential predictive role of leptin for arterial stiffening. Therefore, the aim of this study was to estimate the role of leptin in the incidence of arterial stiffening (pulse pressure >60 mmHg) and changes in pulse pressure in an 8-year follow-up of a sample of adult men (The Olivetti Heart Study). The analysis included 460 men without baseline arterial stiffening and antihypertensive treatment at baseline and at follow-up (age: 50.0 years, BMI: 26.5 kg/m²). At the end of the follow-up period, the incidence of arterial stiffening was 8%. Baseline leptin was significantly greater in the group that developed arterial stiffening and was significantly correlated with pulse pressure changes over time (p < 0.05). According to the median plasma leptin distribution of the whole population, the sample was stratified into two groups: one with leptin levels above the median and the other with leptin levels below the median. Those who had baseline leptin levels above the median had a greater risk of developing arterial stiffening (odds ratio: 2.5, p < 0.05) and a greater increase in pulse pressure over time (beta: 2.1, p < 0.05), also after adjustment for confounders. The results of this prospective study indicate a predictive role of circulating leptin levels for vascular damage, independent of body weight and blood pressure.

高瘦素水平与不利的心脏代谢风险相关。许多研究发现瘦素与血管损伤之间存在正相关关系，但迄今为止，还没有观察性研究评估瘦素对动脉硬化的潜在预测作用。因此，本研究的目的是评估瘦素在对成年男性样本进行 8 年随访（The Olivetti Heart学习）。该分析包括 460 名在基线和随访时没有基线动脉硬化和抗高血压治疗的男性（年龄：50.0 岁，BMI：26.5 kg/m ²）。在随访期结束时，动脉硬化的发生率为 8%。基线瘦素在出现动脉硬化的组中显着增加，并且与脉压随时间的变化显着相关（p  < 0.05）。根据整个人群的血浆瘦素中位数分布，将样本分为两组：一组瘦素水平高于中位数，另一组瘦素水平低于中位数。那些基线瘦素水平高于中位数的人发生动脉硬化的风险更大（优势比：2.5，p  < 0.05）并且随着时间的推移脉压增加更大（β：2.1，p < 0.05)，也在调整混杂因素后。这项前瞻性研究的结果表明循环瘦素水平对血管损伤的预测作用，与体重和血压无关。