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Blood pressure and blood viscosity are not correlated in normal healthy subjects

Authors Salazar-Vázquez B

Published 30 December 2011 Volume 2012:8 Pages 1—6

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/VHRM.S27415

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



Beatriz Y Salazar Vázquez1,2

1Departamento de Medicina Experimental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Hospital General de México, México D.F., México; 2Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

Abstract: The relationship between blood viscosity, hematocrit (Hct), and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) was studied in a healthy population of 91 men and 66 women with an average age of 30.6 ± 8.0 years, from the city of Victoria de Durango (1800 m elevation). In women and men, Hct values were 42.4% ± 2.9% and 47.2% ± 2.3%, blood viscosities were 4.5 ± 0.7 and 6.1 ± 1.0 cP, and MAP was 83.0 ± 6.8 and 88.0 ± 6.1 mmHg, respectively. The correlation between blood viscosity and Hct was linear and positive (r2 = 0.48) and identical to that of previous studies reported in the literature when men and women are taken as a single group. Separating the data by gender yielded positive, linear correlations (r2 = 0.18 and 0.10, respectively) with identical slopes, however blood viscosity for men was 1.2 cP greater than in women (P = 0.02). MAP and blood viscosity (and Hct) were not statistically associated when men and women were analyzed separately and were weakly positively correlated (r2 = 0.08, P < 0.02) when treated as a group. The present results suggest that studies that show a positive correlation between MAP and blood viscosity (and Hct) do not differentiate data according to gender, or involve populations that do not compensate for increased blood viscosity and potentially increased shear stress.

Keywords: blood pressure, blood viscosity, hematocrit, gender, endothelial dysfunction

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