Central and peripheral haemodynamic response to coffee consumption in the cohort of the brisighella heart study

Objective: Even though coffee consumption has been clearly related to a number of benefits on the cardiovascular system, its effect on blood pressure (BP) has not been fully elucidated. Design and method: In this sub-analysis of the Brisighella Heart Study (BHS), we assessed the central and peripheral BP response to coffee drinking in a sub-cohort of 720 men (47.9%) and 783 women (52.1%), for whom a full set of clinical, laboratory and haemodynamic parameters was available. Results: According to our observations, moderate coffee drinking was associated to either higher levels of systolic BP (SBP) compared to heavy coffee consumption and lower SBP than non-coffee drinking (p-value for trend <0.05). In particular, people who drank 2 cups of coffee per day and people who drank >3 cups per day had respectively 5.2 ± 1.6 mmHg (p = 0.010) and 9.7 ± 3.2 mmHg (p = 0.007) lower SBP than non-coffee drinkers. Similar trends were also observed for peripheral pulse pressure (PP), aortic BP and aortic PP. In the age-adjusted multiple linear regression model, negative predictors of SBP, PP, aortic BP and aortic PP were the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), female sex and coffee consumption. Positive predictors included body mass index (BMI) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Conclusions: Our findings show that regular coffee drinking lowers SBP, PP, aortic BP and aortic PP, without having any effect on arterial stiffness.