Central hemodynamics and arterial stiffness in adult humans depend on the conditions of early development in the Northern Kola Peninsula

Abstract

The month and place of birth, i.e., early-life conditions, at low and middle latitudes have proved to be associated with a wide range of later-life health outcomes, including cardiovascular diseases. A comparative observational study was carried out in 122 miners of both sexes residing on the northern Kola Peninsula to examine whether the early-life conditions have any effect on arterial stiffness in adult humans living in the North. The indices of aortic hemodynamics and arterial elasticity were measured using pulse wave analysis and applanation tonometry. The comparison showed that women born in the North have more compliant arteries than their counterparts born in the southern and temperate regions. The men born in summer and autumn have more distensible arteries compared to those born in winter and spring. It is supposed that these differences are due to early epigenetic modification of the genes responsible for the fibrous structure of connective tissue of the arterial wall.