@article {1153, title = {Association of novel genetic Loci with circulating fibrinogen levels: a genome-wide association study in 6 population-based cohorts.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {2}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Apr}, pages = {125-33}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Fibrinogen is both central to blood coagulation and an acute-phase reactant. We aimed to identify common variants influencing circulation fibrinogen levels.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a genome-wide association analysis on 6 population-based studies, the Rotterdam Study, the Framingham Heart Study, the Cardiovascular Health Study, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, the Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease/KORA Augsburg Study, and the British 1958 Birth Cohort Study, including 22 096 participants of European ancestry. Four loci were marked by 1 or more single-nucleotide polymorphisms that demonstrated genome-wide significance (P<5.0 x 10(-8)). These included a single-nucleotide polymorphism located in the fibrinogen beta chain (FGB) gene and 3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms representing newly identified loci. The high-signal single-nucleotide polymorphisms were rs1800789 in exon 7 of FGB (P=1.8 x 10(-30)), rs2522056 downstream from the interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1) gene (P=1.3 x 10(-15)), rs511154 within intron 1 of the propionyl coenzyme A carboxylase (PCCB) gene (P=5.9 x 10(-10)), and rs1539019 on the NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 isoforms (NLRP3) gene (P=1.04 x 10(-8)).

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight biological pathways that may be important in regulation of inflammation underlying cardiovascular disease.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Fibrinogen, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Pedigree, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Young Adult}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.108.825224}, author = {Dehghan, Abbas and Yang, Qiong and Peters, Annette and Basu, Saonli and Bis, Joshua C and Rudnicka, Alicja R and Kavousi, Maryam and Chen, Ming-Huei and Baumert, Jens and Lowe, Gordon D O and McKnight, Barbara and Tang, Weihong and de Maat, Moniek and Larson, Martin G and Eyhermendy, Susana and McArdle, Wendy L and Lumley, Thomas and Pankow, James S and Hofman, Albert and Massaro, Joseph M and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Kolz, Melanie and Taylor, Kent D and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Kathiresan, Sekar and Illig, Thomas and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Volcik, Kelly A and Johnson, Andrew D and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Tofler, Geoffrey H and Gieger, Christian and Psaty, Bruce M and Couper, David J and Boerwinkle, Eric and Koenig, Wolfgang and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Witteman, Jacqueline C and Strachan, David P and Smith, Nicholas L and Folsom, Aaron R} } @article {1323, title = {Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies from the CHARGE consortium identifies common variants associated with carotid intima media thickness and plaque.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {43}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Sep 11}, pages = {940-7}, abstract = {

Carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) and plaque determined by ultrasonography are established measures of subclinical atherosclerosis that each predicts future cardiovascular disease events. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data in 31,211 participants of European ancestry from nine large studies in the setting of the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium. We then sought additional evidence to support our findings among 11,273 individuals using data from seven additional studies. In the combined meta-analysis, we identified three genomic regions associated with common carotid intima media thickness and two different regions associated with the presence of carotid plaque (P < 5 {\texttimes} 10(-8)). The associated SNPs mapped in or near genes related to cellular signaling, lipid metabolism and blood pressure homeostasis, and two of the regions were associated with coronary artery disease (P < 0.006) in the Coronary Artery Disease Genome-Wide Replication and Meta-Analysis (CARDIoGRAM) consortium. Our findings may provide new insight into pathways leading to subclinical atherosclerosis and subsequent cardiovascular events.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Aging, Atherosclerosis, Carotid Intima-Media Thickness, Cohort Studies, Coronary Artery Disease, European Continental Ancestry Group, Genetic Loci, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome, Human, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Heart, Humans, Middle Aged, Phenotype, Plaque, Atherosclerotic, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.920}, author = {Bis, Joshua C and Kavousi, Maryam and Franceschini, Nora and Isaacs, Aaron and Abecasis, Goncalo R and Schminke, Ulf and Post, Wendy S and Smith, Albert V and Cupples, L Adrienne and Markus, Hugh S and Schmidt, Reinhold and Huffman, Jennifer E and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Baumert, Jens and M{\"u}nzel, Thomas and Heckbert, Susan R and Dehghan, Abbas and North, Kari and Oostra, Ben and Bevan, Steve and Stoegerer, Eva-Maria and Hayward, Caroline and Raitakari, Olli and Meisinger, Christa and Schillert, Arne and Sanna, Serena and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Cheng, Yu-Ching and Thorsson, Bolli and Fox, Caroline S and Rice, Kenneth and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Nambi, Vijay and Halperin, Eran and Petrovic, Katja E and Peltonen, Leena and Wichmann, H Erich and Schnabel, Renate B and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Parsa, Afshin and Aspelund, Thor and Demissie, Serkalem and Kathiresan, Sekar and Reilly, Muredach P and Taylor, Kent and Uitterlinden, Andre and Couper, David J and Sitzer, Matthias and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Illig, Thomas and Wild, Philipp S and Orr{\`u}, Marco and L{\"u}demann, Jan and Shuldiner, Alan R and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and White, Charles C and Rotter, Jerome I and Hofman, Albert and Seissler, Jochen and Zeller, Tanja and Usala, Gianluca and Ernst, Florian and Launer, Lenore J and D{\textquoteright}Agostino, Ralph B and O{\textquoteright}Leary, Daniel H and Ballantyne, Christie and Thiery, Joachim and Ziegler, Andreas and Lakatta, Edward G and Chilukoti, Ravi Kumar and Harris, Tamara B and Wolf, Philip A and Psaty, Bruce M and Polak, Joseph F and Li, Xia and Rathmann, Wolfgang and Uda, Manuela and Boerwinkle, Eric and Klopp, Norman and Schmidt, Helena and Wilson, James F and Viikari, Jorma and Koenig, Wolfgang and Blankenberg, Stefan and Newman, Anne B and Witteman, Jacqueline and Heiss, Gerardo and Duijn, Cornelia van and Scuteri, Angelo and Homuth, Georg and Mitchell, Braxton D and Gudnason, Vilmundur and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J} } @article {1359, title = {Association between chromosome 9p21 variants and the ankle-brachial index identified by a meta-analysis of 21 genome-wide association studies.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {5}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Feb 01}, pages = {100-12}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Genetic determinants of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) remain largely unknown. To identify genetic variants associated with the ankle-brachial index (ABI), a noninvasive measure of PAD, we conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association study data from 21 population-based cohorts.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Continuous ABI and PAD (ABI <=0.9) phenotypes adjusted for age and sex were examined. Each study conducted genotyping and imputed data to the ≈2.5 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in HapMap. Linear and logistic regression models were used to test each SNP for association with ABI and PAD using additive genetic models. Study-specific data were combined using fixed effects inverse variance weighted meta-analyses. There were a total of 41 692 participants of European ancestry (≈60\% women, mean ABI 1.02 to 1.19), including 3409 participants with PAD and with genome-wide association study data available. In the discovery meta-analysis, rs10757269 on chromosome 9 near CDKN2B had the strongest association with ABI (β=-0.006, P=2.46{\texttimes}10(-8)). We sought replication of the 6 strongest SNP associations in 5 population-based studies and 3 clinical samples (n=16 717). The association for rs10757269 strengthened in the combined discovery and replication analysis (P=2.65{\texttimes}10(-9)). No other SNP associations for ABI or PAD achieved genome-wide significance. However, 2 previously reported candidate genes for PAD and 1 SNP associated with coronary artery disease were associated with ABI: DAB21P (rs13290547, P=3.6{\texttimes}10(-5)), CYBA (rs3794624, P=6.3{\texttimes}10(-5)), and rs1122608 (LDLR, P=0.0026).

CONCLUSIONS: Genome-wide association studies in more than 40 000 individuals identified 1 genome wide significant association on chromosome 9p21 with ABI. Two candidate genes for PAD and 1 SNP for coronary artery disease are associated with ABI.

}, keywords = {Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alleles, Ankle Brachial Index, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 9, Cohort Studies, Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p15, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, HapMap Project, Humans, Logistic Models, Male, Middle Aged, Peripheral Vascular Diseases, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors, Sex Factors}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.111.961292}, author = {Murabito, Joanne M and White, Charles C and Kavousi, Maryam and Sun, Yan V and Feitosa, Mary F and Nambi, Vijay and Lamina, Claudia and Schillert, Arne and Coassin, Stefan and Bis, Joshua C and Broer, Linda and Crawford, Dana C and Franceschini, Nora and Frikke-Schmidt, Ruth and Haun, Margot and Holewijn, Suzanne and Huffman, Jennifer E and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Kiechl, Stefan and Kollerits, Barbara and Montasser, May E and Nolte, Ilja M and Rudock, Megan E and Senft, Andrea and Teumer, Alexander and van der Harst, Pim and Vitart, Veronique and Waite, Lindsay L and Wood, Andrew R and Wassel, Christina L and Absher, Devin M and Allison, Matthew A and Amin, Najaf and Arnold, Alice and Asselbergs, Folkert W and Aulchenko, Yurii and Bandinelli, Stefania and Barbalic, Maja and Boban, Mladen and Brown-Gentry, Kristin and Couper, David J and Criqui, Michael H and Dehghan, Abbas and den Heijer, Martin and Dieplinger, Benjamin and Ding, Jingzhong and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Espinola-Klein, Christine and Felix, Stephan B and Ferrucci, Luigi and Folsom, Aaron R and Fraedrich, Gustav and Gibson, Quince and Goodloe, Robert and Gunjaca, Grgo and Haltmayer, Meinhard and Heiss, Gerardo and Hofman, Albert and Kieback, Arne and Kiemeney, Lambertus A and Kolcic, Ivana and Kullo, Iftikhar J and Kritchevsky, Stephen B and Lackner, Karl J and Li, Xiaohui and Lieb, Wolfgang and Lohman, Kurt and Meisinger, Christa and Melzer, David and Mohler, Emile R and Mudnic, Ivana and Mueller, Thomas and Navis, Gerjan and Oberhollenzer, Friedrich and Olin, Jeffrey W and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeff and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Palmas, Walter and Penninx, Brenda W and Petersmann, Astrid and Polasek, Ozren and Psaty, Bruce M and Rantner, Barbara and Rice, Ken and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Rotter, Jerome I and Seldenrijk, Adrie and Stadler, Marietta and Summerer, Monika and Tanaka, Toshiko and Tybjaerg-Hansen, Anne and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and van Gilst, Wiek H and Vermeulen, Sita H and Wild, Sarah H and Wild, Philipp S and Willeit, Johann and Zeller, Tanja and Zemunik, Tatijana and Zgaga, Lina and Assimes, Themistocles L and Blankenberg, Stefan and Boerwinkle, Eric and Campbell, Harry and Cooke, John P and de Graaf, Jacqueline and Herrington, David and Kardia, Sharon L R and Mitchell, Braxton D and Murray, Anna and M{\"u}nzel, Thomas and Newman, Anne B and Oostra, Ben A and Rudan, Igor and Shuldiner, Alan R and Snieder, Harold and van Duijn, Cornelia M and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Wright, Alan F and Wichmann, H-Erich and Wilson, James F and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Liu, Yongmei and Hayward, Caroline and Borecki, Ingrid B and Ziegler, Andreas and North, Kari E and Cupples, L Adrienne and Kronenberg, Florian} } @article {6549, title = {Common carotid intima-media thickness measurements do not improve cardiovascular risk prediction in individuals with elevated blood pressure: the USE-IMT collaboration.}, journal = {Hypertension}, volume = {63}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Jun}, pages = {1173-81}, abstract = {

Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is a marker of cardiovascular risk. It is unclear whether measurement of mean common CIMT improves 10-year risk prediction of first-time myocardial infarction or stroke in individuals with elevated blood pressure. We performed an analysis among individuals with elevated blood pressure (i.e., a systolic blood pressure >=140 mm Hg and a diastolic blood pressure >= 90 mm Hg) in USE-IMT, a large ongoing individual participant data meta-analysis. We refitted the risk factors of the Framingham Risk Score on asymptomatic individuals (baseline model) and expanded this model with mean common CIMT (CIMT model) measurements. From both models, 10-year risks to develop a myocardial infarction or stroke were estimated. In individuals with elevated blood pressure, we compared discrimination and calibration of the 2 models and calculated the net reclassification improvement (NRI). We included 17 254 individuals with elevated blood pressure from 16 studies. During a median follow-up of 9.9 years, 2014 first-time myocardial infarctions or strokes occurred. The C-statistics of the baseline and CIMT models were similar (0.73). NRI with the addition of mean common CIMT was small and not significant (1.4\%; 95\% confidence intervals, -1.1 to 3.7). In those at intermediate risk (n=5008, 10-year absolute risk of 10\% to 20\%), the NRI was 5.6\% (95\% confidence intervals, 1.6-10.4). There is no added value of measurement of mean common CIMT in individuals with elevated blood pressure for improving cardiovascular risk prediction. For those at intermediate risk, the addition of mean common CIMT to an existing cardiovascular risk score is small but statistically significant.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Antihypertensive Agents, Blood Pressure, Cardiovascular Diseases, Carotid Artery, Common, Carotid Intima-Media Thickness, Cohort Studies, Female, Humans, Hypertension, Male, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Middle Aged, Risk Assessment, Risk Factors}, issn = {1524-4563}, doi = {10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.113.02683}, author = {Bots, Michiel L and Groenewegen, Karlijn A and Anderson, Todd J and Britton, Annie R and Dekker, Jacqueline M and Engstr{\"o}m, Gunnar and Evans, Greg W and de Graaf, Jacqueline and Grobbee, Diederick E and Hedblad, Bo and Hofman, Albert and Holewijn, Suzanne and Ikeda, Ai and Kavousi, Maryam and Kitagawa, Kazuo and Kitamura, Akihiko and Ikram, M Arfan and Lonn, Eva M and Lorenz, Matthias W and Mathiesen, Ellisiv B and Nijpels, Giel and Okazaki, Shuhei and O{\textquoteright}Leary, Daniel H and Polak, Joseph F and Price, Jacqueline F and Robertson, Christine and Rembold, Christopher M and Rosvall, Maria and Rundek, Tatjana and Salonen, Jukka T and Sitzer, Matthias and Stehouwer, Coen D A and Franco, Oscar H and Peters, Sanne A E and den Ruijter, Hester M} } @article {6559, title = {Glycated hemoglobin measurement and prediction of cardiovascular disease.}, journal = {JAMA}, volume = {311}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Mar 26}, pages = {1225-33}, abstract = {

IMPORTANCE: The value of measuring levels of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) for the prediction of first cardiovascular events is uncertain.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether adding information on HbA1c values to conventional cardiovascular risk factors is associated with improvement in prediction of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Analysis of individual-participant data available from 73 prospective studies involving 294,998 participants without a known history of diabetes mellitus or CVD at the baseline assessment.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Measures of risk discrimination for CVD outcomes (eg, C-index) and reclassification (eg, net reclassification improvement) of participants across predicted 10-year risk categories of low (<5\%), intermediate (5\% to <7.5\%), and high (>= 7.5\%) risk.

RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 9.9 (interquartile range, 7.6-13.2) years, 20,840 incident fatal and nonfatal CVD outcomes (13,237 coronary heart disease and 7603 stroke outcomes) were recorded. In analyses adjusted for several conventional cardiovascular risk factors, there was an approximately J-shaped association between HbA1c values and CVD risk. The association between HbA1c values and CVD risk changed only slightly after adjustment for total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations or estimated glomerular filtration rate, but this association attenuated somewhat after adjustment for concentrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and C-reactive protein. The C-index for a CVD risk prediction model containing conventional cardiovascular risk factors alone was 0.7434 (95\% CI, 0.7350 to 0.7517). The addition of information on HbA1c was associated with a C-index change of 0.0018 (0.0003 to 0.0033) and a net reclassification improvement of 0.42 (-0.63 to 1.48) for the categories of predicted 10-year CVD risk. The improvement provided by HbA1c assessment in prediction of CVD risk was equal to or better than estimated improvements for measurement of fasting, random, or postload plasma glucose levels.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In a study of individuals without known CVD or diabetes, additional assessment of HbA1c values in the context of CVD risk assessment provided little incremental benefit for prediction of CVD risk.

}, keywords = {Aged, C-Reactive Protein, Cholesterol, HDL, Coronary Disease, Diabetes Mellitus, Female, Glycated Hemoglobin A, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Predictive Value of Tests, Prospective Studies, Risk Assessment, Stroke}, issn = {1538-3598}, doi = {10.1001/jama.2014.1873}, author = {Di Angelantonio, Emanuele and Gao, Pei and Khan, Hassan and Butterworth, Adam S and Wormser, David and Kaptoge, Stephen and Kondapally Seshasai, Sreenivasa Rao and Thompson, Alex and Sarwar, Nadeem and Willeit, Peter and Ridker, Paul M and Barr, Elizabeth L M and Khaw, Kay-Tee and Psaty, Bruce M and Brenner, Hermann and Balkau, Beverley and Dekker, Jacqueline M and Lawlor, Debbie A and Daimon, Makoto and Willeit, Johann and Nj{\o}lstad, Inger and Nissinen, Aulikki and Brunner, Eric J and Kuller, Lewis H and Price, Jackie F and Sundstr{\"o}m, Johan and Knuiman, Matthew W and Feskens, Edith J M and Verschuren, W M M and Wald, Nicholas and Bakker, Stephan J L and Whincup, Peter H and Ford, Ian and Goldbourt, Uri and G{\'o}mez-de-la-C{\'a}mara, Agust{\'\i}n and Gallacher, John and Simons, Leon A and Rosengren, Annika and Sutherland, Susan E and Bj{\"o}rkelund, Cecilia and Blazer, Dan G and Wassertheil-Smoller, Sylvia and Onat, Altan and Mar{\'\i}n Iba{\~n}ez, Alejandro and Casiglia, Edoardo and Jukema, J Wouter and Simpson, Lara M and Giampaoli, Simona and Nordestgaard, B{\o}rge G and Selmer, Randi and Wennberg, Patrik and Kauhanen, Jussi and Salonen, Jukka T and Dankner, Rachel and Barrett-Connor, Elizabeth and Kavousi, Maryam and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Evans, Denis and Wallace, Robert B and Cushman, Mary and D{\textquoteright}Agostino, Ralph B and Umans, Jason G and Kiyohara, Yutaka and Nakagawa, Hidaeki and Sato, Shinichi and Gillum, Richard F and Folsom, Aaron R and van der Schouw, Yvonne T and Moons, Karel G and Griffin, Simon J and Sattar, Naveed and Wareham, Nicholas J and Selvin, Elizabeth and Thompson, Simon G and Danesh, John} } @article {6811, title = {Association of Cardiometabolic Multimorbidity With Mortality.}, journal = {JAMA}, volume = {314}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Jul 7}, pages = {52-60}, abstract = {

IMPORTANCE: The prevalence of cardiometabolic multimorbidity is increasing.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate reductions in life expectancy associated with cardiometabolic multimorbidity.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Age- and sex-adjusted mortality rates and hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using individual participant data from the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration (689,300 participants; 91 cohorts; years of baseline surveys: 1960-2007; latest mortality follow-up: April 2013; 128,843 deaths). The HRs from the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration were compared with those from the UK Biobank (499,808 participants; years of baseline surveys: 2006-2010; latest mortality follow-up: November 2013; 7995 deaths). Cumulative survival was estimated by applying calculated age-specific HRs for mortality to contemporary US age-specific death rates.

EXPOSURES: A history of 2 or more of the following: diabetes mellitus, stroke, myocardial infarction (MI).

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: All-cause mortality and estimated reductions in life expectancy.

RESULTS: In participants in the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration without a history of diabetes, stroke, or MI at baseline (reference group), the all-cause mortality rate adjusted to the age of 60 years was 6.8 per 1000 person-years. Mortality rates per 1000 person-years were 15.6 in participants with a history of diabetes, 16.1 in those with stroke, 16.8 in those with MI, 32.0 in those with both diabetes and MI, 32.5 in those with both diabetes and stroke, 32.8 in those with both stroke and MI, and 59.5 in those with diabetes, stroke, and MI. Compared with the reference group, the HRs for all-cause mortality were 1.9 (95\% CI, 1.8-2.0) in participants with a history of diabetes, 2.1 (95\% CI, 2.0-2.2) in those with stroke, 2.0 (95\% CI, 1.9-2.2) in those with MI, 3.7 (95\% CI, 3.3-4.1) in those with both diabetes and MI, 3.8 (95\% CI, 3.5-4.2) in those with both diabetes and stroke, 3.5 (95\% CI, 3.1-4.0) in those with both stroke and MI, and 6.9 (95\% CI, 5.7-8.3) in those with diabetes, stroke, and MI. The HRs from the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration were similar to those from the more recently recruited UK Biobank. The HRs were little changed after further adjustment for markers of established intermediate pathways (eg, levels of lipids and blood pressure) and lifestyle factors (eg, smoking, diet). At the age of 60 years, a history of any 2 of these conditions was associated with 12 years of reduced life expectancy and a history of all 3 of these conditions was associated with 15 years of reduced life expectancy.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Mortality associated with a history of diabetes, stroke, or MI was similar for each condition. Because any combination of these conditions was associated with multiplicative mortality risk, life expectancy was substantially lower in people with multimorbidity.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Comorbidity, Diabetes Mellitus, Female, Humans, Life Expectancy, Male, Middle Aged, Mortality, Myocardial Infarction, Risk Factors, Stroke}, issn = {1538-3598}, doi = {10.1001/jama.2015.7008}, author = {Di Angelantonio, Emanuele and Kaptoge, Stephen and Wormser, David and Willeit, Peter and Butterworth, Adam S and Bansal, Narinder and O{\textquoteright}Keeffe, Linda M and Gao, Pei and Wood, Angela M and Burgess, Stephen and Freitag, Daniel F and Pennells, Lisa and Peters, Sanne A and Hart, Carole L and H{\r a}heim, Lise Lund and Gillum, Richard F and Nordestgaard, B{\o}rge G and Psaty, Bruce M and Yeap, Bu B and Knuiman, Matthew W and Nietert, Paul J and Kauhanen, Jussi and Salonen, Jukka T and Kuller, Lewis H and Simons, Leon A and van der Schouw, Yvonne T and Barrett-Connor, Elizabeth and Selmer, Randi and Crespo, Carlos J and Rodriguez, Beatriz and Verschuren, W M Monique and Salomaa, Veikko and Sv{\"a}rdsudd, Kurt and van der Harst, Pim and Bj{\"o}rkelund, Cecilia and Wilhelmsen, Lars and Wallace, Robert B and Brenner, Hermann and Amouyel, Philippe and Barr, Elizabeth L M and Iso, Hiroyasu and Onat, Altan and Trevisan, Maurizio and D{\textquoteright}Agostino, Ralph B and Cooper, Cyrus and Kavousi, Maryam and Welin, Lennart and Roussel, Ronan and Hu, Frank B and Sato, Shinichi and Davidson, Karina W and Howard, Barbara V and Leening, Maarten J G and Leening, Maarten and Rosengren, Annika and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Deeg, Dorly J H and Kiechl, Stefan and Stehouwer, Coen D A and Nissinen, Aulikki and Giampaoli, Simona and Donfrancesco, Chiara and Kromhout, Daan and Price, Jackie F and Peters, Annette and Meade, Tom W and Casiglia, Edoardo and Lawlor, Debbie A and Gallacher, John and Nagel, Dorothea and Franco, Oscar H and Assmann, Gerd and Dagenais, Gilles R and Jukema, J Wouter and Sundstr{\"o}m, Johan and Woodward, Mark and Brunner, Eric J and Khaw, Kay-Tee and Wareham, Nicholas J and Whitsel, Eric A and Nj{\o}lstad, Inger and Hedblad, Bo and Wassertheil-Smoller, Sylvia and Engstr{\"o}m, Gunnar and Rosamond, Wayne D and Selvin, Elizabeth and Sattar, Naveed and Thompson, Simon G and Danesh, John} } @article {8567, title = {Natriuretic peptides and integrated risk assessment for cardiovascular disease: an individual-participant-data meta-analysis.}, journal = {Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol}, volume = {4}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 10}, pages = {840-9}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Guidelines for primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases focus on prediction of coronary heart disease and stroke. We assessed whether or not measurement of N-terminal-pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) concentration could enable a more integrated approach than at present by predicting heart failure and enhancing coronary heart disease and stroke risk assessment.

METHODS: In this individual-participant-data meta-analysis, we generated and harmonised individual-participant data from relevant prospective studies via both de-novo NT-proBNP concentration measurement of stored samples and collection of data from studies identified through a systematic search of the literature (PubMed, Scientific Citation Index Expanded, and Embase) for articles published up to Sept 4, 2014, using search terms related to natriuretic peptide family members and the primary outcomes, with no language restrictions. We calculated risk ratios and measures of risk discrimination and reclassification across predicted 10 year risk categories (ie, <5\%, 5\% to <7{\textperiodcentered}5\%, and >=7{\textperiodcentered}5\%), adding assessment of NT-proBNP concentration to that of conventional risk factors (ie, age, sex, smoking status, systolic blood pressure, history of diabetes, and total and HDL cholesterol concentrations). Primary outcomes were the combination of coronary heart disease and stroke, and the combination of coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart failure.

FINDINGS: We recorded 5500 coronary heart disease, 4002 stroke, and 2212 heart failure outcomes among 95 617 participants without a history of cardiovascular disease in 40 prospective studies. Risk ratios (for a comparison of the top third vs bottom third of NT-proBNP concentrations, adjusted for conventional risk factors) were 1{\textperiodcentered}76 (95\% CI 1{\textperiodcentered}56-1{\textperiodcentered}98) for the combination of coronary heart disease and stroke and 2{\textperiodcentered}00 (1{\textperiodcentered}77-2{\textperiodcentered}26) for the combination of coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart failure. Addition of information about NT-proBNP concentration to a model containing conventional risk factors was associated with a C-index increase of 0{\textperiodcentered}012 (0{\textperiodcentered}010-0{\textperiodcentered}014) and a net reclassification improvement of 0{\textperiodcentered}027 (0{\textperiodcentered}019-0{\textperiodcentered}036) for the combination of coronary heart disease and stroke and a C-index increase of 0{\textperiodcentered}019 (0{\textperiodcentered}016-0{\textperiodcentered}022) and a net reclassification improvement of 0{\textperiodcentered}028 (0{\textperiodcentered}019-0{\textperiodcentered}038) for the combination of coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart failure.

INTERPRETATION: In people without baseline cardiovascular disease, NT-proBNP concentration assessment strongly predicted first-onset heart failure and augmented coronary heart disease and stroke prediction, suggesting that NT-proBNP concentration assessment could be used to integrate heart failure into cardiovascular disease primary prevention.

FUNDING: British Heart Foundation, Austrian Science Fund, UK Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, European Research Council, and European Commission Framework Programme 7.

}, keywords = {Aged, Biomarkers, Cardiovascular Diseases, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Natriuretic Peptide, Brain, Peptide Fragments, Prospective Studies, Risk Assessment}, issn = {2213-8595}, doi = {10.1016/S2213-8587(16)30196-6}, author = {Willeit, Peter and Kaptoge, Stephen and Welsh, Paul and Butterworth, Adam and Chowdhury, Rajiv and Spackman, Sarah and Pennells, Lisa and Gao, Pei and Burgess, Stephen and Freitag, Daniel and Sweeting, Michael and Wood, Angela and Cook, Nancy and Judd, Suzanne and Trompet, Stella and Nambi, Vijay and Olsen, Michael and Everett, Brendan and Kee, Frank and Arnl{\"o}v, Johan and Salomaa, Veikko and Levy, Daniel and Kauhanen, Jussi and Laukkanen, Jari and Kavousi, Maryam and Ninomiya, Toshiharu and Casas, Juan-Pablo and Daniels, Lori and Lind, Lars and Kistorp, Caroline and Rosenberg, Jens and Mueller, Thomas and Rubattu, Speranza and Panagiotakos, Demosthenes and Franco, Oscar and de Lemos, James and Luchner, Andreas and Kizer, Jorge and Kiechl, Stefan and Salonen, Jukka and Goya Wannamethee, S and de Boer, Rudolf and Nordestgaard, B{\o}rge and Andersson, Jonas and J{\o}rgensen, Torben and Melander, Olle and Ballantyne, Christie and DeFilippi, Christopher and Ridker, Paul and Cushman, Mary and Rosamond, Wayne and Thompson, Simon and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Sattar, Naveed and Danesh, John and Di Angelantonio, Emanuele} } @article {7846, title = {Predictive value for cardiovascular events of common carotid intima media thickness and its rate of change in individuals at high cardiovascular risk - Results from the PROG-IMT collaboration.}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {13}, year = {2018}, month = {2018}, pages = {e0191172}, abstract = {

AIMS: Carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) predicts cardiovascular (CVD) events, but the predictive value of CIMT change is debated. We assessed the relation between CIMT change and events in individuals at high cardiovascular risk.

METHODS AND RESULTS: From 31 cohorts with two CIMT scans (total n = 89070) on average 3.6 years apart and clinical follow-up, subcohorts were drawn: (A) individuals with at least 3 cardiovascular risk factors without previous CVD events, (B) individuals with carotid plaques without previous CVD events, and (C) individuals with previous CVD events. Cox regression models were fit to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of the combined endpoint (myocardial infarction, stroke or vascular death) per standard deviation (SD) of CIMT change, adjusted for CVD risk factors. These HRs were pooled across studies. In groups A, B and C we observed 3483, 2845 and 1165 endpoint events, respectively. Average common CIMT was 0.79mm (SD 0.16mm), and annual common CIMT change was 0.01mm (SD 0.07mm), both in group A. The pooled HR per SD of annual common CIMT change (0.02 to 0.43mm) was 0.99 (95\% confidence interval: 0.95-1.02) in group A, 0.98 (0.93-1.04) in group B, and 0.95 (0.89-1.04) in group C. The HR per SD of common CIMT (average of the first and the second CIMT scan, 0.09 to 0.75mm) was 1.15 (1.07-1.23) in group A, 1.13 (1.05-1.22) in group B, and 1.12 (1.05-1.20) in group C.

CONCLUSIONS: We confirm that common CIMT is associated with future CVD events in individuals at high risk. CIMT change does not relate to future event risk in high-risk individuals.

}, keywords = {Aged, Cardiovascular Diseases, Carotid Intima-Media Thickness, Female, Humans, Intersectoral Collaboration, Male, Middle Aged, Prognosis, Risk Factors}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0191172}, author = {Lorenz, Matthias W and Gao, Lu and Ziegelbauer, Kathrin and Norata, Giuseppe Danilo and Empana, Jean Philippe and Schmidtmann, Irene and Lin, Hung-Ju and McLachlan, Stela and Bokemark, Lena and Ronkainen, Kimmo and Amato, Mauro and Schminke, Ulf and Srinivasan, Sathanur R and Lind, Lars and Okazaki, Shuhei and Stehouwer, Coen D A and Willeit, Peter and Polak, Joseph F and Steinmetz, Helmuth and Sander, Dirk and Poppert, Holger and Desvarieux, Mo{\"\i}se and Ikram, M Arfan and Johnsen, Stein Harald and Staub, Daniel and Sirtori, Cesare R and Iglseder, Bernhard and Beloqui, Oscar and Engstr{\"o}m, Gunnar and Friera, Alfonso and Rozza, Francesco and Xie, Wuxiang and Parraga, Grace and Grigore, Liliana and Plichart, Matthieu and Blankenberg, Stefan and Su, Ta-Chen and Schmidt, Caroline and Tuomainen, Tomi-Pekka and Veglia, Fabrizio and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Nijpels, Giel and Willeit, Johann and Sacco, Ralph L and Franco, Oscar H and Uthoff, Heiko and Hedblad, Bo and Suarez, Carmen and Izzo, Raffaele and Zhao, Dong and Wannarong, Thapat and Catapano, Alberico and Ducimetiere, Pierre and Espinola-Klein, Christine and Chien, Kuo-Liong and Price, Jackie F and Bergstr{\"o}m, G{\"o}ran and Kauhanen, Jussi and Tremoli, Elena and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Berenson, Gerald and Kitagawa, Kazuo and Dekker, Jacqueline M and Kiechl, Stefan and Sitzer, Matthias and Bickel, Horst and Rundek, Tatjana and Hofman, Albert and Mathiesen, Ellisiv B and Castelnuovo, Samuela and Landecho, Manuel F and Rosvall, Maria and Gabriel, Rafael and de Luca, Nicola and Liu, Jing and Baldassarre, Damiano and Kavousi, Maryam and de Groot, Eric and Bots, Michiel L and Yanez, David N and Thompson, Simon G} } @article {9918, title = {Clinical and Imaging Markers of Cardiac Function and Brain Health: A Meta-Analysis of Community-Based Studies.}, journal = {Neurology}, volume = {104}, year = {2025}, month = {2025 Apr 22}, pages = {e213421}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cardiac dysfunction and heart failure are linked to cognitive impairment, but the underlying brain pathology remains undetermined. We investigated associations between cardiac function (measured by echocardiography or cardiac MRI), clinical heart failure, and structural markers on brain MRI, including volumes of gray and white matter (WM), the hippocampus, and white matter hyperintensities (WMHs).

METHODS: We leverage data from 7 prospective, community-based cohorts across Europe and the United States, all part of the Cross-Cohort Collaboration. The included cohorts were the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study, Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, Austrian Stroke Prevention Study, Cardiovascular Health Study, Framingham Heart Study, Rotterdam Study, and Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-START and SHIP-TREND). Each cohort performed cross-sectional multivariable linear regression analyses, after which estimates were pooled through random-effects meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was assessed by the index (\%).

RESULTS: Among 10,889 participants (mean age: 66.8 years, range 52.0-76.0; 56.7\% women), markers of systolic dysfunction were consistently associated with smaller total brain volume (TBV) (e.g., adjusted standardized mean difference for moderate to severe dysfunction -0.19, 95\% CI -0.31 to -0.07, = 20\%). Impaired relaxation and restrictive diastolic dysfunction were also associated with smaller TBV (e.g., for impaired relaxation -0.08, 95\% CI -0.15 to -0.01, = 32\%) and hippocampal volume (-0.18, 95\% CI -0.33 to -0.03, = 0\%), with similar results for the E/A-ratio. Systolic and diastolic dysfunction was not consistently associated with volume of WMHs. Among 5 cohorts with available data, 302 (3.4\%) participants had clinical heart failure, which was associated with smaller brain volumes, particularly in the hippocampus (-0.13, 95\% CI -0.23 to -0.02, = 1\%).

DISCUSSION: In this large study among community-dwelling adults, subclinical cardiac dysfunction was associated with brain imaging markers of neurodegeneration. These findings encourage longitudinal investigations on the effect of maintaining cardiac function on brain health.

}, keywords = {Aged, Brain, Cohort Studies, Echocardiography, Female, Heart Failure, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, White Matter}, issn = {1526-632X}, doi = {10.1212/WNL.0000000000213421}, author = {Yaqub, Amber and Bis, Joshua C and Frenzel, Stefan and Koini, Marisa and Mbangdadji, Djass and Peloso, Gina M and Talluri, Rajesh and Alonso, Alvaro and Bahls, Martin and B{\"u}low, Robin and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Felix, Stephan and Fohner, Alison and Friedrich, Nele and Hofer, Edith and Kavousi, Maryam and Launer, Lenore J and Le, Tran and Longstreth, Will and Mosley, Thomas H and Vernooij, Meike W and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Wittfeld, Katharina and Beiser, Alexa S and Grabe, Hans J and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Ikram, Mohammad Arfan and Psaty, Bruce M and Schmidt, Reinhold and Simino, Jeannette and Seshadri, Sudha and Wolters, Frank J} }