Blood Institute Family Heart Study Research Articles

Dairy product consumption and calcified atherosclerotic plaques in the coronary arteries: The NHLBI Family Heart Study.

Diet modification is a major component of non-pharmacological coronary heart disease (CHD) prevention. Few studies have examined the association between consumption of different dairy products with subclinical coronary artery disease. We sought to examine whether milk, yogurt, or cheese consumption is associated with calcified atherosclerotic plaques in the coronary arteries. We cross-sectionally examined 2278 participants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study. Dairy consumption was assessed by a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) was estimated by cardiac computed tomography. We used an Agatston score of ≥100 to indicate prevalent CAC and fitted multivariable logistic regression to calculate adjusted odds ratios. Mean age was 58±13 years and 45% were male. The frequency of milk (≤1/week, 2-4/week, and ≥5/week; 22%, 14%, and 64%, respectively), yogurt (almost never, <1/week, and ≥1/week; 54%, 20%, and 26%, respectively), and cheese consumption (<1/week, 1/week, 2-4/week, and ≥5/week; 15%, 17%, 41%, and 27%, respectively) varied in the cohort. We observed an inverse association of cheese consumption with prevalent CAC: odds ratio (95% CI) of 0.63 (0.42-0.94) when comparing cheese intake of ≥5 servings/week with <1/week, adjusting for sex, age, body mass index, cigarette pack years, presence of CHD, family income, and education (p for linear trend 0.007). In contrast, there was no association between yogurt or milk consumption and CAC (p for linear trend 0.51 and 0.87, respectively). Our data suggest that cheese consumption but not yogurt or milk is associated with a lower odds of CAC in men and women.

Relationship Between Psychosocial Stress and Blood Pressure: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study.

IntroductionVarious domains of psychosocial stress have been significantly related to blood pressure. However, ambiguity is present in how these relationships are defined in the literature.ObjectiveTo add to the existing literature and examine the relationship between psychosocial stress (financial strain and job strain) and other cofactors on blood pressure.MethodsThis secondary analysis is designed to analyze the relationship between levels of job and financial stress and blood pressure outcomes among participants in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Family Heart Study 2004–2008. The descriptive, cross-sectional design uses data from a subset of study participants, 350 White and 195 Black (n = 545), 338 female (62%), and all aged 18–56 years. Psychosocial stress was measured using the Singh Stress Scale. Resting systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure values obtained on a stress reactivity protocol day in the primary study, as well as calculated mean arterial pressure (MAP) were used for this analysis. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used to explore the relationship between psychosocial stress and blood pressure.ResultsIn this young cohort, self-report of either financial strain or job strain was associated with lower blood pressure levels than those of participants who reported neither stressor. Differential sex and race effects appear to contribute to these results. Blood pressure levels were not significantly associated with self-report of both stressors.ConclusionUnderstanding the effects of various forms of stress on blood pressure may inform more precise HTN risk-factor screening and interventions to improve BP management.

Tree nut consumption and prevalence of carotid artery plaques: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study.

While tree nut consumption has been shown to be cardioprotective, a few studies have examined the relationship between tree nut consumption and carotid atherosclerosis. We tested the hypothesis that tree nut consumption would be inversely related with carotid atherosclerosis in adults. We cross-sectionally analyzed data from 4536 participants of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Family Heart Study conducted in the United States. Dietary patterns among participants were variable, tree nut consumption was self-reported using the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), and B-mode ultrasound of the carotid arteries was used to assess for the presence of carotid artery plaques (primary outcome) and carotid intima media thickness (cIMT). Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of prevalent carotid artery plaques and linear regression was used to estimate adjusted mean cIMT across categories of nut consumption. The mean age was 52.3years (SD = 13.6), 95.6% of the participants were white, and 54% were female. The median tree nut intake was 1-3 servings/month. Odds ratios (95% CI) for prevalent carotid artery plaques were 1.0 (reference), 1.03 [0.86, 1.4], 0.89 [0.70, 1.13], and 0.96 [0.73, 1.26] for tree nut consumption of almost never, 1-3 times/month, 1/week, and 2+/week, respectively, adjusting for age, sex, race, field center, BMI, smoking status, alcohol consumption, creatinine, energy intake, fruit and vegetable consumption, exercise, and education. In secondary analysis, there was a suggestive inverse association of tree nut consumption with cIMT in the internal carotid artery, but not the common carotid or bifurcation. Our data showed no association between tree nut consumption and prevalence of carotid artery plaques in adults.

Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Calcified Atherosclerotic Plaques in the Coronary Arteries: The NHLBI Family Heart Study.

Background: Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake is associated with higher risk of weight gain, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and cardiovascular mortality. However, the association of SSB with subclinical atherosclerosis in the general population is unknown. Objective: Our primary objective was to investigate the association between SSB intake and prevalence of atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries in The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Family Heart Study. Methods: We studied 1991 participants of the NHLBI Family Heart Study without known coronary heart disease. Intake of SSB was assessed through a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) was measured by cardiac Computed Tomography (CT) and prevalent CAC was defined as an Agatston score ≥100. We used generalized estimating equations to calculate adjusted prevalence ratios of CAC. A sensitivity analysis was also performed at different ranges of cut points for CAC. Results: Mean age and body mass index (BMI) were 55.0 years and 29.5 kg/m2, respectively, and 60% were female. In analysis adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, energy intake, and field center, higher SSB consumption was not associated with higher prevalence of CAC [prevalence ratio (95% confidence interval) of: 1.0 (reference), 1.36 (0.70–2.63), 1.69 (0.93–3.09), 1.21 (0.69–2.12), 1.05 (0.60–1.84), and 1.58 (0.85–2.94) for SSB consumption of almost never, 1–3/month, 1/week, 2–6/week, 1/day, and ≥2/day, respectively (p for linear trend 0.32)]. In a sensitivity analysis, there was no evidence of association between SSB and prevalent CAC when different CAC cut points of 0, 50, 150, 200, and 300 were used. Conclusions: These data do not provide evidence for an association between SSB consumption and prevalent CAC in adult men and women.

Walking and Calcified Atherosclerotic Plaque in the Coronary Arteries: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study.

Studies have reported mixed findings on the association between physical activity and subclinical atherosclerosis. We sought to examine whether walking is associated with prevalent coronary artery calcification (CAC) and aortic calcification. In a cross-sectional design, we studied 2971 participants of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study without a history of myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass grafting, or percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. A standardized questionnaire was used to ascertain the number of blocks walked daily to compute walking metabolic equivalent hours. CAC was measured by cardiac computed tomography. We defined prevalent CAC and aortic calcification using an Agatston score of at least 100 and used generalized estimating equations to calculate adjusted prevalence ratios. Mean age was 55 years, and 60% of participants were women. Compared with the ≤3.75-Met-h/wk group, prevalence ratios for CAC after adjusting for age, sex, race, smoking, alcohol use, total physical activity (excluding walking), and familial clustering were 0.53 (95% confidence interval, 0.35-0.79) for >3.75 to 7.5 Met-h/wk, 0.72 (95% confidence interval, 0.52-0.99) for >7.5 to 15 Met-h/wk, and 0.54 (95% confidence interval, 0.36-0.81) for >15 to 22.5 Met-h/wk, (P trend=0.01). The walking-CAC relationship remained significant for those with body mass index ≥25 (P trend=0.02) and persisted with CAC cutoffs of 300, 200, 150, and 50 but not 0. When examined as a continuous variable, a J-shaped association between walking and CAC was found. The walking-aortic calcification association was not significant. Our findings suggest that walking is associated with lower prevalent CAC (but not aortic calcification) in adults without known heart disease.

Walking and Calcified Atherosclerotic Plaque in the Coronary ArteriesHighlights: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study

Walking and Calcified Atherosclerotic Plaque in the Coronary ArteriesHighlights: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study

Leukocyte Telomere Length and Coronary Artery Calcium

Patients with histories of myocardial infarction display shortened leukocyte telomere length (LTL), but conflicting findings have been reported on the relation between LTL and subclinical coronary artery atherosclerosis, as expressed by coronary artery calcium (CAC). The aim of this study was to examine the relation between LTL, measured by Southern blots, and CAC in 3,169 participants in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study. Participants consisted of 2,556 whites, 613 blacks, 1,790 women, and 1,379 men. The odds of having CAC ≥100 for the shortest LTL tertile versus the longest LTL tertile were 1.95 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.28 to 3.16) in white men and 1.76 (95% CI 1.18 to 2.45) in white women, after adjusting for multiple covariates of CAC. The corresponding odds ratios for blacks were 1.53 (95% CI 0.67 to 3.50) and 0.87 (95% CI 0.37 to 2.00). Significance levels of tests for trend across LTL tertiles were p= 0.002 in white men, p= 0.006 in white women, p= 0.32 in black men, and p= 0.74 in black women. The associations, or lack of associations, were independent of C-reactive protein levels and other risk factors for CAC. As previously shown in other studies, whites displayed shorter LTLs than blacks (p <0.0001). In conclusion, the higher the coronary artery atherosclerotic burden in whites, the shorter the LTL. This LTL-atherosclerosis connection is not found in blacks. The mechanisms for the racial difference in LTL, CAC, and their interrelations do not seem to be related to inflammation and merit further research.

Lack of association of apolipoprotein E (Apo E) polymorphism with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome: the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Family Heart Study.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS), characterized by abdominal obesity, atherogenic dyslipidaemia, elevated blood pressure and insulin resistance, is a major public health concern in the United States. The effects of apolipoprotein E (Apo E) polymorphism on MetS are not well established. We conducted a cross-sectional study consisting of 1551 participants from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Family Heart Study to assess the relation of Apo E polymorphism with the prevalence of MetS. MetS was defined according to the American Heart Association-National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute-International Diabetes Federation-World Health Organization harmonized criteria. We used generalized estimating equations to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for prevalent MetS and the Bonferroni correction to account for multiple testing in the secondary analysis. Our study population had a mean age (standard deviation) of 56.5 (11.0) years, and 49.7% had MetS. There was no association between the Apo E genotypes and the MetS. The multivariable adjusted ORs (95% confidence interval) were 1.00 (reference), 1.26 (0.31-5.21), 0.89 (0.62-1.29), 1.13 (0.61-2.10), 1.13 (0.88-1.47) and 1.87 (0.91-3.85) for the Ɛ3/Ɛ3, Ɛ2/Ɛ2, Ɛ2/Ɛ3, Ɛ2/Ɛ4, Ɛ3/Ɛ4 and Ɛ4/Ɛ4 genotypes, respectively. In a secondary analysis, Ɛ2/Ɛ3 genotype was associated with 41% lower prevalence odds of low high-density lipoprotein [multivariable adjusted ORs (95% confidence interval) = 0.59 (0.36-0.95)] compared with Ɛ3/Ɛ3 genotype. Our findings do not support an association between Apo E polymorphism and MetS in a multicentre population-based study of predominantly White US men and women.

Association of ideal cardiovascular health and calcified atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study

The American Heart Association (AHA) established recommendations based on 7 ideal health behaviors and factors with the goal of improving cardiovascular health (CVH) and reducing both morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease by 20% by 2020. Few studies have investigated their association with subclinical coronary heart disease. We sought to examine whether the 7 AHA CVH metrics were associated with calcified atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries. In a cross-sectional design, we studied 1,731 predominantly white men and women from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study without prevalent coronary heart disease. Diet was assessed by a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) was measured by cardiac computed tomography. We defined prevalent CAC using an Agatston score of 100+ and fitted generalized estimating equations to calculate prevalence odds ratios of CAC. Mean age was 56.8 years, and 41% were male. The median number of ideal CVH metrics was 3, and no participant met all 7. There was a strong inverse relationship between number of ideal CVH metrics and prevalent CAC. Odds ratios (95% CI) for CAC of 100+ were 1.0 (reference), 0.37 (0.29-0.45), 0.35 (0.26-0.44), and 0.27 (0.20-0.36) among subjects with 0 to 1, 2, 3, and 4+ ideal CVH metrics, respectively (P = .0001), adjusting for sex, age, field center, alcohol, income, education, and energy consumption. These data demonstrate a strong and graded inverse relationship between AHA ideal CVH metrics and prevalent CAC in adult men and women.

Association of ideal cardiovascular health and calcified atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study

Association of ideal cardiovascular health and calcified atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study

Correction

HomeCirculation: Cardiovascular ImagingVol. 7, No. 2Correction Free AccessCorrectionPDF/EPUBAboutView PDFView EPUBSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationsTrack citationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InMendeleyReddit Jump toFree AccessCorrectionPDF/EPUBCorrection Originally published1 Mar 2014https://doi.org/10.1161/HCI.0000000000000003Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. 2014;7:415This article corrects the followingAdult Height and Prevalence of Coronary Artery CalciumA correction was needed to an article by Miedema et al, which published online December 11, 2013, and appeared in the January 2014 issue of this journal (Miedema MD, Petrone AB, Arnett DK, Dodson JA, Carr JJ, Pankow JS, Hunt SC, Province MA, Kraja A, Gaziano JM, Djousse L. Adult Height and Prevalence of Coronary Artery Calcium: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2014;7:).The Sources of Funding statement was revised and now appears as follows:The NHLBI Family Heart Study was supported by the NHLBI cooperative agreement grants U01 HL 67893, U01 HL67894, U01 HL67895, U01 HL67896, U01 HL67897, U01 HL67898, U01 HL67899, U01 HL67900, U01 HL67901, and U01 HL67902. Dr Dodson performed this work while on a T32 training grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging (T32 AG000158).This correction has been made to the current online version of the article, which is available at: http://circimaging.ahajournals.org/content/7/1/52.full Previous Back to top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsRelated articlesAdult Height and Prevalence of Coronary Artery CalciumMichael D. Miedema, et al. Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. 2014;7:52-57 March 2014Vol 7, Issue 2 Advertisement Article InformationMetrics © 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.https://doi.org/10.1161/HCI.0000000000000003 Originally publishedMarch 1, 2014 PDF download Advertisement

Adult Height and Prevalence of Coronary Artery Calcium

Background— Adult height has been hypothesized to be inversely associated with coronary heart disease; however, studies have produced conflicting results. We sought to examine the relationship between adult height and the prevalence of coronary artery calcium (CAC), a direct measure of subclinical atherosclerosis and surrogate marker of coronary heart disease. Methods and Results— We evaluated the relationship between adult height and CAC in 2703 participants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study who underwent cardiac computed tomography. We used generalized estimating equations to calculate the prevalence odds ratios for the presence of CAC (CAC&gt;0) across sex-specific quartiles of height. The mean age of the sample was 54.8 years, and 60.2% of participants were female. There was an inverse association between adult height and CAC. After adjusting for age, race, field center, waist circumference, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, systolic blood pressure, antihypertensive medications, diabetes mellitus, diabetic medications, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, lipid-lowering medications, and income, individuals in the tallest quartile had 30% lower odds of having prevalent CAC. The odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for the presence of CAC across consecutive sex-specific quartiles of height were 1.0 (reference), 1.15 (0.86–1.53), 0.95 (0.73–1.22), and 0.70 (0.53–0.93), and P for trend &lt;0.01. There was no evidence of effect modification for the relationship between adult height and CAC by age or socioeconomic status. Conclusions— The results of our study suggest an inverse, independent association between adult height and CAC.

Association of dietary omega-3 fatty acids with prevalence of metabolic syndrome: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study

Metabolic syndrome (MetS), characterized by abdominal obesity, atherogenic dyslipidemia, elevated blood pressure, and insulin resistance is a major public health concern in the United States. Omega-3 fatty acids have been relatively well studied in relation to many individual cardiovascular risk factors; however, their effects on MetS are not well established. We conducted a cross-sectional study consisting of 4941 participants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Family Heart Study to assess the relation of dietary omega-3 fatty acids with the prevalence of MetS. Omega-3 intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire and we used generalized estimating equations to estimate adjusted odds ratios for prevalent MetS. Our study population had a mean age (SD) of 52.1 (13.9) years and 45.9% were men. The mean (SD) of dietary omega-3 fatty acids was 0.25 g/day (0.27). From the lowest to the highest quintile of dietary omega-3 fatty acids, multivariable adjusted ORs (95% CI) for MetS were 1.00 (ref), 0.90 (0.72-1.13), 1.03 (0.82-1.28), 0.94 (0.74-1.18), and 0.99 (0.77-1.25), respectively. In a secondary analysis, neither fish consumption nor dietary alpha-linolenic acid was associated with MetS. Our findings do not support an association between dietary omega-3 fatty acids and MetS in a large US population.

Abstract P386: Adult Height and Coronary Artery Calcium in the NHLBI Family Heart Study

Introduction: Adult height is inversely associated with the risk of developing hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. Height has also shown an inverse association with coronary heart disease and cardiovascular mortality, but the relationship between height and subclinical atherosclerosis is unclear. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) is a marker of atherosclerosis and a strong predictor of cardiovascular events. The relationship between height and CAC has not been well studied. Objective: To test the hypothesis that adult height is inversely associated with CAC. Methods: We studied 3,360 individuals from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study. Adult height was self-reported and CAC was measured by EBCT. We used generalized estimating equations to estimate adjusted prevalence odds ratios across quintiles of height. Results: Mean age of the sample was 54.9 years (SD +/- 12.9) and 57% were women. Baseline characteristics of the participants in sex-specific quintiles are shown in Table 1. After adjusting for age, the prevalence odds ratios for CAC decreased from the lowest quintile to the highest quintile (p-value for trend 0.02). After further adjustment for race, waist circumference, smoking, and field center, height remained inversely associated with CAC (adjusted odds ratios 1.0 [reference], 1.52 [1.13-2.05], 0.98 [0.75-1.28], 0.90 [0.68-1.20], 0.78 [0.58-1.03], p-value for trend &lt;0.01). Additional adjustment for alcohol consumption, exercise, and total cholesterol did not materially change the strength of the association between height and CAC. No interaction was seen for gender or race. Conclusion: Adult height is inversely associated with the presence of CAC in middle-aged men and women.

Association of dietary omega-3 fatty acids with prevalence of metabolic syndrome: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study

Association of dietary omega-3 fatty acids with prevalence of metabolic syndrome: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study

Chocolate consumption and prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the NHLBI Family Heart Study

Previous studies have suggested that cocoa products, which are rich sources of flavonoids, may lower blood pressure, serum cholesterol, fasting blood glucose and improve endothelial function. However, it is unclear whether consumption of cocoa products including chocolate influences the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS). In a cross-sectional design, we sought to examine the association between chocolate consumption and the prevalence of MetS. We studied 4098 participants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Family Heart Study aged 25-93 years. Chocolate consumption was assessed using a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. MetS was defined using the NCEP III criteria. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate prevalence odds ratios of MetS according to frequency of chocolate intake. Of the 4098 participants (mean age 51.7 y) included in the analyses, 2206 (53.8%) were female. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in our population was 30.2%. Compared with those who did not consume any chocolate, multivariate adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) for MetS were 1.26 (0.94, 1.69), 1.15 (0.85, 1.55), and 0.99 (0.66, 1.51) among women who reported chocolate consumption of 1-3 times/ month, 1-4 times/week, and 5+ times/week, respectively. Corresponding values for men were: 1.13 (0.82, 1.57), 1.02 (0.74, 1.39), and 1.21 (0.79, 1.85). These data do not support an association between chocolate intake and the prevalence of MetS in US adult men and women.

Is Bitter Better? The Benefits of Chocolate for the Cardiovascular System

Background and Aims: Cocoa, particularly dark chocolate, is rich in flavonoids, and recent studies have demonstrated blood pressure lowering effects of dark chocolate. Because limited data are available on the association of chocolate consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), the investigators examined the association between chocolate consumption and prevalence of CHD. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, 4,970 participants 25to 93years ofage were studiedintheNationalHeart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Family Heart Study. Chocolate intakewasassessedthroughasemiquantitativefoodfrequency questionnaire. The workers generalized estimating equations to assess adjusted odds ratios. Results: Compared with subjects who did not report any chocolate intake at all, the odds ratios for CHD were 1.01 (95% CI, 0.76–1.37), 0.74 (95% CI, 0.56–0.98), and 0.43 (95% CI, 0.28–0.67) in subjects consuming chocolate 1–3 times per month, 1–4 times per week, or 5+ times per week, respectively (P for trend <0.0001), adjusting for age, sex, family CHD risk group, and a large number of other confounders. Interestingly, subjects who consumed nonchocolate candy 5+ times per week had a 49% higher prevalence of CHD than those with no such consumption (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 0.96–2.32). Discussion: The authors suggest that consumption of chocolate is inversely related with prevalent CHD in a general United States population.

Apolipoprotein ε4 polymorphism does not modify the association between body mass index and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol: a cross-sectional cohort study

BackgroundWe sought to examine whether ε4 carrier status modifies the relation between body mass index (BMI) and HDL. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study included 657 families with high family risk scores for coronary heart disease and 588 randomly selected families of probands in the Framingham, Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities, and Utah Family Health Tree studies. We selected 1402 subjects who had ε4 carrier status available. We used generalized estimating equations to examine the interaction between BMI and ε4 allele carrier status on HDL after adjusting for age, gender, smoking, alcohol intake, mono- and poly-unsaturated fat intake, exercise, comorbidities, LDL, and family cluster.ResultsThe mean (standard deviation) age of included subjects was 56.4(11.0) years and 47% were male. Adjusted means of HDL for normal, overweight, and obese BMI categories were 51.2(± 0.97), 45.0(± 0.75), and 41.6(± 0.93), respectively, among 397 ε4 carriers (p for trend < 0.0001) and 53.6(± 0.62), 51.3(± 0.49), and 45.0(± 0.62), respectively, among 1005 non-carriers of the ε4 allele (p-value for trend < 0.0001). There was no evidence for an interaction between BMI and ε4 status on HDL(p-value 0.39).ConclusionOur findings do not support an interaction between ε4 allele status and BMI on HDL.

Chocolate consumption is inversely associated with prevalent coronary heart disease: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study

Chocolate consumption is inversely associated with prevalent coronary heart disease: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study

Serum Urate Is Not Associated with Coronary Artery Calcification: The NHLBI Family Heart Study

urate may have effects on vascular remodeling and atherosclerosis. We had shown an association between serum uric acid (SUA) and carotid atherosclerotic plaques. Inflammation and vascular remodeling in atherosclerosis promote coronary artery calcification (CAC), a preclinical marker for atherosclerosis. Here, we examined whether SUA is associated with CAC, using the same study sample and methods as for our previous carotid atherosclerosis study. the national Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study is a multicenter study designed to assess risk factors for heart disease. Participants were recruited from population-based cohorts in the US states of Massachusetts, North Carolina, Minnesota, Utah, and Alabama. CAC was assessed with helical computed tomography (CT). We conducted sex-specific and family-cluster analyses, as well as additional analyses among persons without risk factors related to both cardiovascular disease and hyperuricemia, adjusting for potential confounders as we had in the previous study of carotid atherosclerosis. for the CAC study, 2412 subjects had both SUA and helical CT results available (55% women, age 58 ± 13 yrs, body mass index 27.6 ± 5.3). We found no association of SUA with CAC in men or women [OR in men: 1.0, 1.11, 0.86, 0.90; women: 1.0, 0.83, 1.00, 0.87 for increasing categories of SUA: < 5 (referent group), 5 to < 6, 6 to < 6.8, ≥ 6.8 mg/dl, respectively], nor in subgroup analyses. replicating the methods used to demonstrate an association of SUA with carotid atherosclerosis did not reveal any association between SUA and CAC, suggesting that SUA likely does not contribute to atherosclerosis through effects on arterial calcification. The possibility that urate has divergent pathophysiologic effects on atherosclerosis and artery calcification merits further study.