Late menopauze vermindert aortastijfheid in de postmenopauzale periode

Hypertension, Volume 83, Issue 3, Page e26346, March 1, 2026. BACKGROUND:A later age at menopause (≥55 years) is associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk compared with a normal age at menopause (45–54 years) in postmenopausal women (PMW). Aortic stiffening increases cardiovascular disease risk, but the impact of late-onset menopause on aortic stiffness is unknown.METHODS:Total aortic stiffness (carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity [PWVCF]) was measured in 40 late-onset and 86 normal-onset PMW. Structural- and load/blood pressure-dependent PWVCFwere calculated with exponential models; the percent of total PWVCFattributable to each was determined. Elastic modulus was assessed in aortic rings from female C57BL/6 N mice (3–6 months) exposed to 5% PMW serum. Lipidomics and triglyceride-related metabolite exposure of aortas with/without the mitochondrial antioxidant MitoQ identified lipid drivers of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species-related stiffness.RESULTS:PWVCFwas 128 cm/s low