The Associations of Perceived and Oxidative Stress with Hypertension in a Cohort of Police Officers

Abstract

Miroslaw Janczura,1 Rafal Rosa,2 Jerzy Dropinski,3 Anna Gielicz,3 Andrzej Stanisz,4 Katarzyna Kotula-Horowitz,5 Teresa Domagala6 1Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University School of Medicine, Krakow, Poland; 2Health Care Centre of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Krakow, Poland; 3Department of Internal Medicine, Jagiellonian University School of Medicine, Krakow, Poland; 4Department of Bioinformatics and Telemedicine, Jagiellonian University School of Medicine, Krakow, Poland; 5Health Care Centre of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, Department of Internal Medicine, Krakow, Poland; 6Department of Medical Biochemistry, Jagiellonian University School of Medicine, Krakow, PolandCorrespondence: Teresa DomagalaDepartment of Medical Biochemistry, Jagiellonian University School of Medicine, Krowoderska 68/11, Krakow, 31-158, PolandTel [phone]Fax [phone]Email [email protected]: Associations between perceived stress and oxidative stress marker and metabolic syndrome (MetS) components were investigated in a cohort of police officers.Methods: Cross-sectional data from a cohort of non-diabetic subjects (n=233; 19F), median [interquartile range] age 50 [37– 44] years, were analysed. MetS was construed in line with International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria and perceived stress with Cohen’s 10-item Perceived Stress Scale. Plasma oxidative stress marker (free 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α; 8-iso-PGF2α), presence of coronary plaque, carotid artery intima-media thickness (cIMT), and physical activity level were also determined.Results: Obesity was established in 100 (42.92%), hypertension in 111 (47.64), whereas MetS was identified in 104 (44.63%) of the study subjects. A significant difference (p=0.003) in plasma 8-iso-PGF2α level, depending on the MetS components status, was noted. The associations of perceived stress with plasma 8-iso-PGF2α level and the select study variables were gender-specific. In multivariate analysis (adjusted for age and current smoking), positive associations of plasma 8-iso-PGF2α levels with PSS score (B=0.108, 95% CI [0.008, 0.209], p=0.03) and systolic blood pressure (B=0.029, 95% CI [0.003, 0.057], p=0.02) in men only were established. Both the perceived stress (OR 1.101, 95% CI [1.001– 1.202], p=0.03) and plasma 8-iso-PGF2α levels (OR 1.223, 95% CI [1.046– 1.432], p=0.01) impacted the prevalence of hypertension. Out of the MetS components, the effect of waist circumference (OR=1.138, 95% CI [1.064– 1.218], p=0.0001) and glucose (B=2.696, 95% CI [1.081– 6.725], p=0.03) were also encountered. No such associations were noted in women, though, neither in univariate nor in multivariate analyses. The prevalence of coronary plaque (0.001), obesity (p< 0.001), hypertension (p< 0.001) and median cIMT value (p=0.005), as well as leisure-time (p=0.04) and total walking physical activity (p=0.03), differed significantly between the subgroups stratified by MetS components status.Conclusion: Both the perceived and oxidative stress were found instrumental in promoting hypertension in a cohort of police officers under study, whereas all study outcomes were conclusively gender-related.Keywords: metabolic syndrome, obesity, hypertension, perceived stress, oxidative stress, physical activity

Keywords

• metabolic syndrome
• obesity
• hypertension
• perceived stress
• oxidative stress
• physical activity