Restless legs syndrome (RLS) and periodic limb movements of sleep (PLMS) have been variably implicated in risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), but there is lack of consensus on these relationships. We sought to assess subclinical CVD measures and RLS/PLMS in a large cohort to further evaluate these associations. The Emory Center for Health Discovery and Well Being cohort is composed of employed adults, with subclinical CVD measures including endothelial function (flow-mediated vasodilation), microvascular function (reactive hyperemia index, RHI), arterial stiffness (pulse wave velocity and augmentation index), and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). Participants were grouped based on presence (N = 50) or absence (N = 376) of RLS and subclinical CVD measures compared between groups. A subset of participants (n = 40) underwent ambulatory monitoring for PLMS and obstructive sleep apnea. PLMS association with subclinical CVD measures was assessed. RLS status was significantly associated with flow-mediated dilation in univariate analyses but not after controlling for potential confounders; RLS was not associated with other subclinical CVD measures. PLMS were significantly correlated with the RHI, augmentation index, and cIMT in univariate analyses; only the association between PLMS and cIMT remained significant (p = 0.04) after controlling for RLS status, age, apnea–hypopnea index, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension. The observed association between higher PLMS and greater cIMT suggests that PLMS may be a marker of subclinical CVD. Further work is needed to determine the relationship between PLMS and CVD risk.

不宁腿综合征 (RLS) 和睡眠周期性肢体运动 (PLMS) 与心血管疾病 (CVD) 的风险存在不同程度的关联，但对于这些关系缺乏共识。我们试图在一个大队列中评估亚临床 CVD 测量和 RLS/PLMS，以进一步评估这些关联。埃默里健康发现和福祉中心队列由在职成年人组成，亚临床心血管疾病测量包括内皮功能（血流介导的血管舒张）、微血管功能（反应性充血指数，RHI）、动脉僵硬度（脉搏波速度和增强指数）和颈动脉内膜中层厚度 (cIMT)。 根据组间比较是否出现RLS和亚 临床 CVD 指标，对参与者进行分组。一部分参与者 ( n  = 40) 接受了 PLMS 和阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停的动态监测。评估了 PLMS 与亚临床 CVD 测量的关联。在单变量分析中，RLS 状态与血流介导的扩张显着相关，但在控制潜在混杂因素后则不然；RLS 与其他亚临床 CVD 指标无关。在单变量分析中，PLMS 与 RHI、增强指数和 cIMT 显着相关； 在控制了 RLS 状态、年龄、呼吸暂停低通气指数、高脂血症和高血压后，只有 PLMS 和 cIMT 之间的关联仍然显着 ( p = 0.04)。观察到较高 PLMS 与较高 cIMT 之间的关联表明 PLMS 可能是亚临床 CVD 的标志。需要进一步的工作来确定 PLMS 和 CVD 风险之间的关系。