MONDAY, Dec. 9, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Biomarkers of insulin resistance are risk factors for aortic stenosis (AS), according to a study published online Nov. 27 in the Annals of Medicine.
Maija Sohlman, from the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, and colleagues examined biomarkers and the risk for AS in a prospective population-based study involving 10,144 Finnish men without AS at baseline. Variables predicting AS were identified during a follow-up time of 10.8 years. A principal component (PC) analysis was applied to the biomarkers that predicted AS; the resulting PCs were examined as predictors of AS using a Cox regression analysis.
The researchers found that AS was diagnosed in 1.1 percent of men (median age, 62 years). In Cox regression analyses, associations with incident AS were seen for fasting, 30-minute, and 120-minute plasma insulin and proinsulin (hazard ratios ranging from 1.38 to 1.44), the Matsuda index (hazard ratio, 0.68), and serum C-peptide (hazard ratio, 1.47) in addition to age, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, waist/hip ratio, height, body fat mass, fat-free mass, and high sensitivity C-reactive protein. After adjustments or exclusion of individuals with diabetes, these associations remained significant. Significant associations with AS were seen for PC1, which included fasting plasma insulin, C-peptide, the Matsuda index, waist/hip ratio, and urine albumin excretion, and PC2, which consisted of age, body fat mass, and systolic blood pressure (hazard ratios, 1.37 and 1.77, respectively).
“As insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia appear to be important risk factors for AS, measures improving insulin sensitivity, such as weight control and exercise, might be effective in the prevention of aortic stenosis,” the authors write.
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