Objective: Aortic stiffness and wave reflections are important markers and prognosticators of cardiovascular risk. Caffeine increases acutely aortic stiffness and wave reflections. Furthermore, chronic coffee consumption is associated with increased aortic stiffness and wave reflections in normotensive subjects. In the present study, we aimed to assess the association between chronic coffee consumption, and aortic stiffness and wave reflections in hypertensive patients. Design: Epidemiological survey. Setting: Hypertension Unit, University Hospital. Subjects-methods: We examined 259 never-treated hypertensives (age 50712 years, 165 males) without diabetes mellitus, who were asked to describe in detail the type and amount of coffee they consumed. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (Alx) were measured non-invasively as indices of aortic stiffness and wave reflections, respectively. Results: When controlled for gender, age, height, smoking status, heart rate, mean pressure, HDL cholesterol and hsCRP, Alx was found to be higher with increasing daily coffee consumption. Post hoc analysis revealed that all groups of coffee consumption had higher Alx compared to no-consumption. PWV did not differ among groups of daily coffee consumption. Each participant had 35% higher relative risk of having high Alx for each cup (150 ml) of coffee per day, and 40% higher relative risk for each 10 cup-years. Conclusions: Coffee consumption is associated with increased wave reflections, but not aortic stiffness in never-treated hypertensive patients. This finding may have important clinical implications for cardiovascular health in hypertensive subjects.
