White blood cell count and cardiovascular biomarkers of atherosclerosis.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the association with white blood cells (WBC) and atherosclerotic parameters including cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in the general population. METHODS We investigated the relationship between WBC count and metabolic syndrome components, CAVI and CIMT in 3738 Japanese study participants. RESULTS WBC count weakly correlated with CAVI in men (beta = 0.61, p = 0.043), but not in women (beta = 0.35, p = 0.17). On the other hand, WBC did not correlate with CIMT in either men or women (p = 0.41 and p = 0.71, respectively). CONCLUSION WBC count was associated with lipids, blood pressure and body mass index, although the correlations with CAVI and CIMT were weak or absent.