Urinary N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide as a biomarker for cardiovascular events in a general Japanese population: the Hisayama Study

BACKGROUND@#Epidemiological evidence has shown that serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) concentrations, a diagnostic biomarker for heart failure, are positively associated with cardiovascular risk. Since NT-proBNP in serum is excreted in urine, it is hypothesized that urinary NT-proBNP concentrations are correlated with serum concentrations and linked with cardiovascular risk in the general population.@*METHODS@#A total of 3060 community-dwelling residents aged ≥ 40 years without history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) were followed up for a median of 8.3 years (2007-2015). Serum and urinary concentrations of NT-proBNP at baseline were compared. The hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between NT-proBNP concentrations and the risk of developing CVD were computed using the Cox proportional hazards model.@*RESULTS@#The median values (interquartile ranges) of serum and urinary NT-proBNP concentrations at baseline were 56 (32-104) pg/mL and 20 (18-25) pg/mL, respectively. There was a strong quadratic correlation between the serum and urinary concentrations of NT-proBNP (coefficient of determination [R@*CONCLUSIONS@#The present study demonstrated that urinary NT-proBNP concentrations were well-correlated with serum concentrations and were positively associated with cardiovascular risk. Given that urine sampling is noninvasive and does not require specially trained personnel, urinary NT-proBNP concentrations have the potential to be an easy and useful biomarker for detecting people at higher cardiovascular risk.

Microalbuminuria y factores de riesgo cardiovascular asociados en pacientes con hipertensión arterial sistémica. Subanálisis del estudio I-Search / Microalbuminuria and associated cardiovascular risk factors in patients with arterial systemic hypertension. A subanalysis of the I-Search study

Objetivo: Establecer la prevalencia de microalbuminuria en un grupo de pacientes con hipertensión arterial sistémica (HAS), para analizar la asociación entre este parámetro con factores de riesgo cardiovascular y el tratamiento para la HAS. Método: Es un sub-análisis con 564 pacientes de México, extraído de un estudio internacional, observacional y transversal seguidos por médicos especialistas. Se incluyeron pacientes con HAS, sin otras causas de microalbuminuria. Resultados: La microalbuminuria en estos pacientes tuvo una prevalencia de 63.8% (95% IC 58.4, 69.3) y correlaciona con una amplia variedad de factores de riesgo y enfermedades cardiovasculares concomitantes. La mayor parte de pacientes con microalbuminuria recibían ya tratamiento con antagonistas de los receptores de angiotensina II (50%), sin pretender establecer el impacto de los fármacos en los valores de microalbuminuria. Conclusiones:La prevalencia de pacientes con HAS y elevado riesgo cardiovascular es alta. Debido a ello, se justifica un tratamiento multifactorial capaz no sólo de controlar la presión arterial sino también de modificar los demás factores de riesgo cardiovascular presentes.

Objectives: To establish the prevalence of microalbuminuria in a group of patients with systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) to analyze the association between this parameter and cardiovascular risk factors as well as with SAH treatment. Methods: This is a sub-analysis of 564 patients of Mexico, extracted from an international, observational, and cross-sectional study followed by specialists, The study included patients with SAH without any other causes of microalbuminuria. Results: Microalbuminuria in these patients had a prevalence of 63.8% (95% IC 58.4, 69,3) and correlated with a wide variety of risk factors and concomitant cardiovascular diseases Most patients with microalbuminuria already received treatment with angiotensin II receptor antagonists (50%), without pretending to establish the impact of the drugs on the microalbuminuria values. Conclusion: The prevalence of patients with SAH and high cardiovascular risk is high in this study and justifies their management and care with multifactorial strategies aimed to adequately control their blood pressure and to modify other current cardiovascular risk factors.

Gross proteinuria is a strong risk predictor for cardiovascular mortality in Brazilian type 2 diabetic patients

Increased proteinuria is recognized as a risk predictor for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in diabetic patients; however, no study has evaluated these relationships in Brazilian patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of gross proteinuria for all-cause and cardiovascular mortalities and for cardiovascular morbidity in a cohort study of 471 type 2 diabetic individuals followed for up to 7 years. Several clinical, laboratory and electrocardiographic variables were obtained at baseline. The relative risks for all-cause, cardiovascular and cardiac mortalities and for cardiovascular and cardiac events associated with the presence of overt proteinuria (>0.5 g/24 h) were assessed by Kaplan-Meier survival curves and by multivariate Cox regression model. During a median follow-up of 57 months (range 2-84 months), 121 patients (25.7 percent) died, 44 from cardiovascular and 30 from cardiac causes, and 106 fatal or non-fatal cardiovascular events occurred. Gross proteinuria was an independent risk predictor of all-cause, cardiovascular and cardiac mortalities and of cardiovascular morbidity with adjusted relative risks ranging from 1.96 to 4.38 for the different endpoints. This increased risk remained significant after exclusion of patients with prior cardiovascular disease at baseline from the multivariate analysis. In conclusion, gross proteinuria was a strong predictor of all-cause, cardiovascular and cardiac mortalities and also of cardiovascular morbidity in a Brazilian cohort of type 2 diabetic patients. Intervention studies are necessary to determine whether the reduction of proteinuria can decrease morbidity and mortality of type 2 diabetes in Brazil.