TY - JOUR
T1 - The association of liver enzymes with biomarkers of subclinical myocardial damage and structural heart disease
AU - Lazo, Mariana
AU - Rubin, Jonathan
AU - Clark, Jeanne M.
AU - Coresh, Josef
AU - Schneider, Andrea L.C.
AU - Ndumele, Chiadi
AU - Hoogeveen, Ron C.
AU - Ballantyne, Christie M.
AU - Selvin, Elizabeth
N1 - Funding Information:
Roche Diagnostics provided reagents and loan of an instrument to conduct the hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP assays. Roche Diagnostics had no role in design, analysis or presentation preparation. Drs. Hoogeveen and Ballantyne: Grant support from Roche Diagnostics (and the National Institutes of Health). The other authors declare no conflict of interests to disclose.
Funding Information:
The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study is carried out as a collaborative study supported by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute contracts: ( HHSN268201100005C , HHSN268201100006C , HHSN268201100007C , HHSN268201100008C , HHSN268201100009C , HHSN268201100010C , HHSN268201100011C , and HHSN268201100012C ). E.S. and M.L. were supported by NIH/NIDDK grant and R01 DK089174 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 European Association for the Study of the Liver.
PY - 2015/4/1
Y1 - 2015/4/1
N2 - Background & Aims Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are thought to be at increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, the relationships between NAFLD and subclinical myocardial injury or structural heart disease are unknown. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 8668 participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, who showed no clinical evidence of cardiovascular disease. We used levels of liver enzymes (alanine aminotransferase [ALT], aspartate aminotransferase [AST] and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase [GGT]), in the context of no history of elevated alcohol consumption as non-invasive surrogates of NAFLD. We used highly sensitive cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) and N-terminal pro-Brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) as biomarkers of myocardial damage and function. Results In this population-based study (mean age 63 years, 60% women, 78% white), higher levels of ALT, AST, and GGT, even within the normal range, were significantly and independently associated with detectable (hs-cTnT >3 ng/L) and elevated (hs-cTnT ≥14 ng/L) concentrations of hs-cTnT. The adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for elevated liver enzymes (vs. normal levels) with elevated hs-cTnT were: 1.65 (1.28-2.14) for ALT, 1.90 (1.36-2.68) for AST, and 1.55 (1.13-2.12) for GGT. Furthermore, there was evidence for inverse associations of ALT and AST with NT-proBNP. Conclusions Our results suggest that elevated liver enzyme levels in the absence of elevated alcohol consumption may be associated with subclinical myocardial injury. The inverse association between NT-proBNP and both ALT and AST supports the recently described metabolic role of natriuretic peptides.
AB - Background & Aims Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are thought to be at increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, the relationships between NAFLD and subclinical myocardial injury or structural heart disease are unknown. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 8668 participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, who showed no clinical evidence of cardiovascular disease. We used levels of liver enzymes (alanine aminotransferase [ALT], aspartate aminotransferase [AST] and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase [GGT]), in the context of no history of elevated alcohol consumption as non-invasive surrogates of NAFLD. We used highly sensitive cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) and N-terminal pro-Brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) as biomarkers of myocardial damage and function. Results In this population-based study (mean age 63 years, 60% women, 78% white), higher levels of ALT, AST, and GGT, even within the normal range, were significantly and independently associated with detectable (hs-cTnT >3 ng/L) and elevated (hs-cTnT ≥14 ng/L) concentrations of hs-cTnT. The adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for elevated liver enzymes (vs. normal levels) with elevated hs-cTnT were: 1.65 (1.28-2.14) for ALT, 1.90 (1.36-2.68) for AST, and 1.55 (1.13-2.12) for GGT. Furthermore, there was evidence for inverse associations of ALT and AST with NT-proBNP. Conclusions Our results suggest that elevated liver enzyme levels in the absence of elevated alcohol consumption may be associated with subclinical myocardial injury. The inverse association between NT-proBNP and both ALT and AST supports the recently described metabolic role of natriuretic peptides.
KW - NAFLD
KW - Natriuretic peptides
KW - Subclinical cardiac damage
KW - Troponin T
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jhep.2014.11.024
DO - 10.1016/j.jhep.2014.11.024
M3 - Article
C2 - 25433159
AN - SCOPUS:84926418817
VL - 62
SP - 841
EP - 847
JO - Journal of Hepatology
JF - Journal of Hepatology
SN - 0168-8278
IS - 4
ER -