Cardiac troponins are a group of markers used to predict heart disease risk. However, it is not well understood how blood pressure control affects troponin I levels and whether changes in troponin I levels predict future cardiovascular disease risk.

University of Alabama at Birmingham physician-scientists leverage data from the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial, a large national clinical trial, to shed new light on the role of cardiac troponin I in blood pressure management and blood pressure prediction. Ta. A recent paper published in 2017 points out the risk of cardiovascular disease. JACC: Progress.

Almost half of the U.S. population has high blood pressure. People with high blood pressure are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease if their blood pressure is not controlled.

Identification of hypertensive patients at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease may facilitate intensification and modification of antihypertensive therapy to reduce that risk. In this study, the research team analyzed troponin I measurements from more than 8,000 participants.

“Instead of using troponin I levels at a single time point, the team evaluated changes in troponin I levels one year after the start of the study,” said Naman Shetty, MD, a research scientist in the UAB department. is a cardiovascular disease researcher and lead author of the study. “Interestingly, this study revealed that intensive blood pressure management is likely to lead to a reduction in troponin I levels.”

This finding remained consistent even after accounting for various factors, including changes in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and renal function.

“We also investigated whether changes in troponin I levels predict the risk of developing cardiovascular disease,” Shetty said. “Elevated troponin I levels after 1 year are associated with an increased risk of these events, highlighting the potential of troponin I as a prognostic marker for cardiovascular disease.”

Pankaj Arora, M.D., lead author of the paper and associate professor in UAB’s Division of Cardiovascular Disease, said the study’s insights are significant given previous findings on cardiac troponin T, another biomarker of heart damage. states that it is important.

Unlike troponin I, troponin T levels can also be increased in diseases other than those that damage the heart, such as those that affect the body’s muscles. Previous analyzes surprisingly showed that intensive treatment of hypertension leads to increased troponin T levels, which increases when changes in renal function are taken into account.

“These findings highlight the specificity and robustness of troponin I as a cardiac-specific biomarker that is unaffected by changes in renal function, and suggest that troponin I may be an important predictor of myocardial injury and cardiovascular disease risk stratification. It has become a more reliable marker for the development of cancer,” Arora said. “The reduction in troponin I levels with intensive blood pressure management and the predictive value of troponin I for cardiovascular disease events highlight the potential of troponin I as an important tool in managing elevated blood pressure and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.” It highlights sexuality.”

Professor Arora said this research is a novel way to use troponin I as a surrogate marker to monitor response to preventive lifestyle measures, antihypertensive treatments, and personalized care in individuals with high blood pressure and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. It is said that it will open a new path.