title: Plasma adrenomedullin as an independent predictor of future cardiovascular events in high-risk patients: comparison with C-reactive protein and adiponectin.
abstract: This study investigated the predictive power of plasma adrenomedullin (AM) for future cardiovascular (CV) events. In 121 patients with multiple CV risk factors and/or disease, plasma concentrations of AM, high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and adiponectin were measured. During follow-up periods (mean, 3.5 years) after the baseline assessment, 28 patients newly experienced CV events such as stroke/transient ischemic attack, acute coronary syndrome, and congestive heart failure. The plasma level of AM, but not hs-CRP or adiponectin, was significantly higher in patients who had CV events than in event-free subjects. When the patients were divided into three groups by tertiles of basal levels of AM (<10.1, 10.1-13.1, and > or =13.1 fmol/mL), cumulative event-free rates by the Kaplan-Meier method were decreased according to the increase in basal AM levels (83.2%, 68.6%, and 52.8% in the lowest, middle, and highest tertiles of AM, respectively; log-rank test, P=0.033). By univariate Cox regression analysis, previous coronary artery disease, creatinine clearance, and plasma AM and hs-CRP levels were significantly associated with CV events during follow-up. Among these possible predictors, high plasma AM (P=0.004) and low creatinine clearance (P=0.043) were independent determinants for morbidity in multivariate analysis. These findings indicate that plasma AM is a powerful independent predictor of future CV events in high-risk patients, suggesting its predictive value is superior to that of hs-CRP or adiponectin.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hypertension and Nephrology, Department of Medicine, National Cardiovascular Center, 5-7-1 Fujishirodai, Suita, Osaka 565-8565, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidenori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Horio
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwashima
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamide
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kangawa
authors.forename: Yuhei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawano
mesh_terms: D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood; D053607:Adrenomedullin / Q000097:blood*; D000368:Aged; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: C507862:ADM protein, human; D052242:Adiponectin; D053607:Adrenomedullin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein