Levels of physical activity are correlated with intima media ratio in subjects without but not with metabolic syndrome: a study of Iranians without a history of cardiovascular events

Aim: We aimed to investigate the relationship between carotid Intima Media Thickness (CIMT) and physical activity levels (PAL), in subjects with and without metabolic syndrome (MetS) and in indidiviuals with and without carotid artery plaque (CAP) defined using high-resolution ultrasound. Method: A sample of 506 subjects [215 (42.5%) males], aged 35–64 years was recruited from an urban population in Mashhad, Iran, using a stratified-cluster method as part of the Mashhad Stroke Heart Atherosclerosis Disorder (MASHAD) study cohort. This sub-sample was selected randomly from a cohort of 9765 individuals for carotid duplex ultrasound. Comparisons were made between individuals with and without CAP on the one hand, and between participants with and without MetS on the other hand with regard to physical activity and cardiometabolic risk level, as well as their correlation with CIMT. Result: PAL was positively and significantly correlated with CIMT in the total sample (r = 0.132, p < 0.001). The correlation coefficient was 0.132 (p = 0.426) in the MetS+ participants and 0.440 (p < 0.001) in the MetS- participants. The correlation of PAL with CIMT was also positive and significant in CAP+ participants (r = 0.150, p < 0.001), but not in the CAP- participants (r = 0.001, p = 0.621), with however a non-significant difference between the two estimates (p = 0.374). Hip circumference was correlated with CIMT in MetS- but not MetS+ participants. Conclusion: physical activity in the current study appeared to be a correlate of infraclinical CVD risk in participants without metabolic syndrome, but not in those without.