Introduction: Hypertension is a major risk factor for development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Arterial stiffness is a risk predictor of CVD in this patient group. Oxidative stress has been implicated in the development of arterial stiffness. Haptoglobin (Hp) and homocysteine (Hcy) are well documented markers of oxidative stress. We hypothesized that Hp and Hcy are associated with arterial stiffness in never treated incident hypertensive patients.

Methods and Material: We examined 125 patients with newly diagnosed never treated hypertension. Patients had 24h ambulatory blood pressure (BP) measurement (Spacelabs Healthcare^®, Hertford, UK) performed and were eligible if daytime BP was ≥ 135/85 mmHg. Arterial stiffness expressed as carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), augmentation index at heart rate 75 (AIx@75), and central systolic blood pressure (cenBP) were measured with the SphygmoCor^® device (Atcor Medical^®, Sydney, Australia). Hp and Hcy were determined using rate nephelometry (Beckmann IMMAGE^TM, DK).

Results: Patient baseline characteristics are shown in the Table. In a univariate correlation Hp showed a weak association with AIx@75 (r=0.16, p=0.04) which in an adjusted regression model remained significant (r² =0.45, p=0.02). Hp was not associated with cfPWV or cenBP nor was there any association between Hcy and cfPWV, AIx@75, and cenBP.

Conclusion: Only Hp was associated with arterial stiffness (AIx@75) whereas no other associations were found. Thus, Hcy appear not to be associated with arterial stiffness in hypertension and further studies are warranted to elucidate the role of Hp as a risk marker in hypertension.