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Ideal cardiovascular health influences cardiovascular disease risk associated with high lipoprotein(a) levels and genotype: The EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study


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Authors

Perrot, N 
Verbeek, R 
Boekholdt, SM 
Hovingh, GK 

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Lipoprotein(a) (Lp[a]) is a strong genetic risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The American Heart Association has prioritised seven cardiovascular health metrics to reduce the burden of CVD: body mass index, healthy diet, physical activity, smoking status, blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol levels (together also known as ideal cardiovascular health). Our objective was to determine if individuals with high Lp(a) levels could derive cardiovascular benefits if characterized by ideal cardiovascular health. METHODS: A total of 14,051 participants of the EPIC-Norfolk study were stratified according to the cardiovascular health score (based on the number of health metrics with an ideal, intermediate or poor status). Of them, 1732 had a CVD event during a mean follow-up of 11.5 years. Cox proportional hazards models were used to describe the association between the cardiovascular health score and Lp(a) level or genotype (as estimated by the rs10455872 variant) with the risk of CVD. RESULTS: We observed little or no differences in serum Lp(a) levels across the seven cardiovascular health metric categories. Among participants with high serum Lp(a) levels ≥50 mg/dl), those in the highest (i.e. healthiest) cardiovascular health score category (10-14) had an adjusted hazard ratio for cardiovascular disease of 0.33 (95% CI = 0.17-0.63, p = 0.001) compared to participants in the lowest (i.e. unhealthiest) cardiovascular health score category(0-4). Similar results were obtained when we replaced Lp(a) with rs10455872. CONCLUSIONS: Although Lp(a) levels are only slightly influenced by cardiovascular health metrics, an ideal cardiovascular health could substantially reduce CVD risk associated with high Lp(a) levels or genotype.

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Keywords

cardiovascular diseases, genetics, ideal cardiovascular health, lifestyle, lipoprotein(a)

Journal Title

Atherosclerosis

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0021-9150
1879-1484

Volume Title

256

Publisher

Elsevier
Sponsorship
MRC (MC_PC_13048)
Department of Health (via National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)) (NF-SI-0512-10135)
Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12015/1)
Medical Research Council (MR/N003284/1)
Medical Research Council (G1000143)
Medical Research Council (G0801566)
Medical Research Council (G0401527)
Medical Research Council (MR/K023187/1)
Economic and Social Research Council (ES/G007462/1)
Wellcome Trust (087636/Z/08/Z)
Medical Research Council (MR/K013491/1)
Medical Research Council (MC_U106179471)
British Heart Foundation (None)
Medical Research Council (G0801566/1)
Medical Research Council (G0401527/1)
Medical Research Council (MC_PC_13048)
EPIC-Norfolk is supported by program grants from the Medical Research Council UK and Cancer Research UK and with additional support from the European Union, Stroke Association, British Heart Foundation, and Research into Ageing. RV is supported by a grant from the European Union [TransCard: FP7-603091-2]. BJA holds a junior scholar award from the Fonds de recherche du Québec: Santé (FRQS).