title: Plasma free fatty acids and risk of atrial fibrillation (from the Cardiovascular Health Study).
abstract: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a highly prevalent cardiac arrhythmia in clinical practice, affecting approximately 2.3 million residents of the United States and 4.5 million residents of the European Union. It is unclear whether plasma free fatty acids (FFAs) influence the risk of AF in older adults. The aim of this study was to prospectively examine the association between plasma FFAs and incident AF in a prospective cohort of 4,175 men and women ≥65 years old from the Cardiovascular Health Study. Plasma concentrations of FFAs were measured 2 times during the 1992 to 1993 examination. Incident AF was ascertained based on study electrocardiographic and hospitalization records during follow-up. We used Cox regression to estimate relative risks of AF. Average age at baseline was 74.6 ± 5.1 years. During a mean follow-up of 10.0 years, 1,041 new cases of AF occurred. Crude incidence rates of AF were 23.7, 23.3, 23.9, and 29.7 cases/1,000 person-years across consecutive quartiles of plasma FFAs. There was a positive association between plasma FFAs and risk of AF. Multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for incident AF were 1.00 (referent), 1.02 (0.85 to 1.21), 1.05 (0.88 to 1.26), and 1.29 (1.08 to 1.55) from the lowest to highest quartiles of FFAs, respectively. In a secondary analysis restricted to the first 5 years of follow-up, this association persisted. In conclusion, our data show an increased risk of AF with higher plasma FFAs in community-dwelling older adults.
authors.affiliation: Division of Aging, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. oajaz@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Owais
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Khawaja
authors.forename: Traci M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Bartz
authors.forename: Joachim H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Ix
authors.forename: Susan R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Heckbert
authors.forename: Jorge R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Kizer
authors.forename: Susan J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Zieman
authors.forename: Kenneth J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Mukamal
authors.forename: Russell P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Tracy
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Siscovick
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Djoussé
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D015994:Incidence; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D014280:Triglycerides; C109794:pro-brain natriuretic peptide (1-76); D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; D002097:C-Reactive Protein