Evidence of racial differences in peripheral blood pressure, central haemodynamics and arterial stiffness between young Black and White women
Date
2025-07-26
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Experimental Physiology
Abstract
Hypertension diagnosed via peripheral (brachial) blood pressure (pBP) is a strong independent predictor of overt cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, central (aortic) blood pressure (cBP), which is influenced by arterial stiffness, may be more strongly associated with CVD risk. Young Black women (BLW) demonstrate higher pBP than White women (WHW), but investigations of racial differences in central haemodynamics and arterial stiffness in young women are lacking. We assessed pBP, central haemodynamics and arterial stiffness in young, non-hypertensive BLW and WHW. We hypothesized that pBP, central haemodynamics (cBP, augmentation pressure (AP), augmentation index normalized to a heart rate of 75 beats per minute (AIx75), arterial wave reflections), and arterial stiffness (carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV)) would be higher in BLW. Under standardized resting conditions, supine brachial pBP was measured, and central haemodynamics were estimated via pulse wave analysis using partial cuff inflation. cf-PWV was assessed via simultaneous carotid artery applanation tonometry and partial cuff inflation over the femoral artery. Participants were young, apparently healthy women who self-identified their race as Black (BLW: n = 44) or White (WHW: n = 40). Systolic pBP (P = 0.04) and diastolic pBP (P < 0.01) were higher among BLW. Systolic cBP (P < 0.01), diastolic cBP (P < 0.01), heart rate (P < 0.001), AP (P = 0.02), AIx75 (P < 0.001), arterial wave reflection magnitude (P = 0.40) and cf-PWV (P = 0.04) were all higher among BLW. Findings demonstrate elevations in pBP, central haemodynamics and arterial stiffness in young BLW versus WHW. Central haemodynamics and arterial stiffness may be promising targets in the early assessment of CVD risk in young BLW.
Description
This article was originally published in Experimental Physiology. The version of record is available at: DOI https://doi.org/10.1113/EP092929
©2025 The Author(s). Experimental Physiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Physiological Society.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords
blood pressure, pulse wave analysis, pulse wave electricity, racial disparity
Citation
D’Agata, M. N., Hoopes, E. K., Matias, A. A., Rattigan, M. L., Patterson, F., & Witman, M. A. (2025). Evidence of racial differences in peripheral blood pressure, central haemodynamics and arterial stiffness between young Black and White women. Experimental Physiology, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1113/EP092929 1469445x,