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

Miroslaw Janczura; Rafal Rosa; Jerzy Dropinski; Anna Gielicz; Andrzej Stanisz; Katarzyna Kotula-Horowitz; Teresa Domagala

doi:10.2147/DMSO.S298596

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

Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2021 Apr 23:14:1783-1797. doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S298596. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Miroslaw Janczura¹, Rafal Rosa², Jerzy Dropinski³, Anna Gielicz³, Andrzej Stanisz⁴, Katarzyna Kotula-Horowitz⁵, Teresa Domagala⁶

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University School of Medicine, Krakow, Poland.
² Health Care Centre of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Krakow, Poland.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Jagiellonian University School of Medicine, Krakow, Poland.
⁴ Department of Bioinformatics and Telemedicine, Jagiellonian University School of Medicine, Krakow, Poland.
⁵ Health Care Centre of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, Department of Internal Medicine, Krakow, Poland.
⁶ Department of Medical Biochemistry, Jagiellonian University School of Medicine, Krakow, Poland.

Abstract

Purpose: 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 F_2α; 8-iso-PGF_2α), 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-PGF_2α level, depending on the MetS components status, was noted. The associations of perceived stress with plasma 8-iso-PGF_2α level and the select study variables were gender-specific. In multivariate analysis (adjusted for age and current smoking), positive associations of plasma 8-iso-PGF_2α 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-PGF_2α 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: hypertension; metabolic syndrome; obesity; oxidative stress; perceived stress; physical activity.

Grants and funding

The present study was financed out of the University’s statutory resources for the pursuit of in-house research projects; no extra funding was provided by any external sources.