137-04: Association of cardiac biomarkers with PR interval prolongation: insights from the LIFE-Adult-Study

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Background: The PR (or PQ) interval is the delay between the excitation of the atria and ventricles and is determined by the sum of atrial and atrioventricular nodal conduction. Both long (>200 ms) and short PR intervals (<120 ms) are associated with an increased risk for atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between PR interval and blood markers of cardiac stress, myocardial damage and inflammation. Methods: The LIFE-Adult-Study is a population-based cohort study, which has recently completed the baseline examination of 10,000 randomly selected participants from Leipzig, a major city with 550,000 inhabitants in the east of Germany. In the current analysis, patients >40 years with no overt heart disease, sinus rhythm in ECG, no history of AF or antiarrhythmic drugs (including beta blockers) and available laboratory data (TropT, BNP, CRP, IL6) were included. Results: The study population comprised 3151 patients (58 ± 11 years, 48% males). In uni- and multivariable analyses, age (B = 0.501, 95% CI 0.294–0.708, p < 0.001), male gender (B = 11.437, 95% CI 9.598–13.276, p < 0.001) and TropT (B = 14.875, 95% CI 4.885–24.866, p = 0.004) were significantly associated with the PR interval. The prevalences of patients with short and long PR intervals (177 patients (6%) and 147 (5%), respectively) were similar. While none of the biomarkers was associated with short PR interval, TropT remained significantly associated with PR prolongation >200 ms (OR 2.562, 95%CI 1.068–6.145, p = 0.035). Conclusions: TropT is associated with PR interval prolongation which may indicate subclinical heart disease. Longitudinal studies are needed to assess their association with AF.