title: Gender-specific risk stratification with plasma B-type natriuretic peptide for future onset of congestive heart failure and mortality in the Japanese general population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Elevated plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels suggest a high risk for future onset of cardiovascular events including congestive heart failure (CHF) and mortality. In the general population, although median plasma BNP levels have been reported to be higher in women than in men, the incidence of CHF and mortality are lower in women. However, no studies have examined gender-specific risk stratification of plasma BNP levels for future onset of CHF and mortality.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects of this study were recruited from our general population. Baseline data including plasma BNP were determined in 13,466 subjects (men 4527, women 8939; median age = 64 yrs). A multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to examine the predictive ability of plasma BNP for new onset of CHF and mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean follow-up duration was 2.9 years. After adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors including atrial fibrillation, hazard ratios for CHF development for values above the 75th percentile of BNP were 13.4 (p<0.001) in men and 8.5 (p<0.001) in women. Similarly, each increment of 1SD in log BNP levels increased the hazard ratio by 8.8 (p<0.001) in men, and 6.7 (p<0.001) in women. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was significant for prediction of the onset of CHF (men; 0.853, women; 0.838). In addition, increased plasma BNP levels implied high risk of any-cause mortality in men (above the 75th percentile; hazard ratio = 1.8, p=0.005: increment of 1SD; hazard ratio = 1.4, p=0.024), but this relationship was suboptimal in women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Measurements of plasma BNP provides strong predictive information about future onset of CHF in both sexes, with predictive ability for death being effective especially in men.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Iwate Medical University, Morioka, Japan. nkmrmoto@iwate-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Motoyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Fumitaka
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Onoda
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakuma
authors.forename: Kazuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: Kozo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanno
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohsawa
authors.forename: Makaski
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohsawa
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Itai
authors.forename: Kiyomi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakata
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Makita
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okayama
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution
chemical_list: D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain