title: Circulating vascular endothelial growth factor and the risk of cardiovascular events.
abstract: To investigate the relation of circulating concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a large community-based sample.
  
  
  
  We prospectively assessed the relation of circulating VEGF concentrations with the incidence of CVD among 3041 Framingham Heart Study participants (mean age 63.4±11.1 years, 59% women). Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were estimated adjusting for standard risk factors to VEGF quartiles to incident CVD. Restricted cubic splines were used to examine the linearity of the association.
  
  
  
  After a mean follow-up of 8.8 (±2.8) years, 527 individuals experienced a first CVD event. Compared with participants in the first VEGF quartile, individuals in the second VEGF quartile had a 34% increased risk for future CVD (HR 1.34, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.74; p value=0.03) and individuals in third quartile had a 59% higher risk (HR 1.59; 95% CI 1.23 to 2.05, p value=0.0003). Individuals in the highest VEGF quartile had a similar cardiovascular risk as compared with those in the lowest VEGF quartile (HR 1.18, 95% CI 0.91 to 1.53, p value=0.21). Evaluation of restricted cubic splines confirmed the nonlinear, inverted U-shaped relation of serum VEGF and CVD events (p<0.0001 for model fit, p=0.006 for non-linearity).
  
  
  
  Circulating VEGF concentrations exhibit a complex non-linear (inverted U-shaped) relation with the risk of developing CVD events, with the lowest risk experienced at the lower and upper end of the distribution. The underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remain to be elucidated.
authors.affiliation: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA.|German Heart Center, Technische Universität, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Bernhard M
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7055-3271
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Kaess
authors.affiliation: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Preis
authors.affiliation: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Alexa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beiser
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Division, Maine Medical Center, Portland, Maine, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Sawyer
authors.affiliation: Sections of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Nutrition, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Tai C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Sudha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Seshadri
authors.affiliation: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA.|Sections of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology and Cardiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Ramachandran S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Vasan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D015854:Up-Regulation; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A