Abstract
BackgroundHigher creatine kinase (CK) activity is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease in black African populations. We compared CK activity and investigated associations of blood pressure with CK activity in black and white men as well as black and white women.MethodsAmbulatory blood pressure, total peripheral resistance and pulse wave velocity of 197 black and 208 white participants were determined and serum CK activity was measured.ResultsBlood pressure and pulse wave velocity were higher in black men and women (all p < 0.001) when compared to their white counterparts. CK activity only varied between black and white women (75.9 U/l vs 62.8 U/l, p = 0.009), even after adjusting for age, body mass index and physical activity. Despite the worse cardiovascular profile of black men and women, and the higher CK activity in the black women, we were unable to link blood pressure, pulse wave velocity or total peripheral resistance with CK activity, in the black African population. In white men, total peripheral resistance was associated with CK activity (R2 = 0.32; β = 0.25; p = 0.009), whereas systolic blood pressure (R2 = 0.46; β = 0.17; p = 0.03) and pulse pressure (R2 = 0.31; β = 0.21; p = 0.01) were associated with CK activity in white women.ConclusionsThe lack of associations in the black African population suggests that the link between a worse cardiovascular profile and CK activity may be overshadowed by other contributing factors. Whereas, the established link between cardiovascular function and CK activity in the white groups may be the result of enhanced smooth muscle cell contractility and/or attenuated nitric oxide synthesis capacity.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12872-016-0315-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Higher creatine kinase (CK) activity is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease in black African populations
We further aimed to investigate if ambulatory systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) are associated with CK activity in black and white men as well as black and white women
The black men had a more detrimental cardiovascular profile when compared to the white men, as can be seen from their significantly higher SBP, DBP, and pulse wave velocity (PWV)
Summary
Higher creatine kinase (CK) activity is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease in black African populations. Creatine kinase (CK), an enzyme responsible for the rapid release of adenosine triphosphate, has higher activity in all tissues with high and/or changing energy demands (brain, heart, renal artery and skeletal muscle) in black participants compared to white participants of sub-Sahara African descent [4]. In another study the association of increasing blood pressure with higher CK activity was not limited to a certain ethnic group, since the study population included descendants of Africa, South Asia and white Europeans [6]. Additional to the higher CK activity in black populations, CK activity differs between gender groups. Substantial heterogeneity in CK activity were observed in a black and white study population which included
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