Lipid levels, apolipoproteins, and risk of incident atrial fibrillation in men: A report from the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD)

Abstract

Apolipoproteins are associated with risk of coronary heart disease but the association with risk of incident atrial fibrillation (AF) has been inconsistent. This study investigated the association of apolipoproteins A-1 (apoA-1) and B (apoB), and lipid levels including triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), with the risk of new-onset AF. A total of 2533 men from the prospective, population-based Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study, aged 42-60 years, were studied. Cox proportional hazards adjusted for potential confounders was used to estimate hazard ratio (HR) of incident events across serum lipid, lipoprotein, and apoA-1 and apoB concentrations. During the mean follow-up of 22.4 years, 594 AF cases occurred. Cox proportional hazards regression indicated that higher serum HDL-C and apoA-1 concentrations were associated with lower risk of AF [the extreme-quartile multivariable-adjusted HR 0.72 (95% CI 0.57-0.92, P=0.02) for HDL-C, and 0.72 (95% CI 0.52-1.00, P=0.05)] for apoA-1]. No significant associations were observed for apoB and other lipids (TC, VLDL-C, LDL-C, non-HDL-C, and TG) with risk of incident AF. Over the time of follow-up in this study lower new-onset incident AF was in association with higher HDL-C and apo-A1 levels. Future studies should investigate mechanisms underlying the association of low HDL-C and low apoA1 with higher risk of incident AF.