N-terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide and Risk for Diabetes Mellitus and Metabolic Syndrome.

CONTEXT

Natriuretic peptide concentrations are inversely associated with risk of diabetes mellitus and may be protective from metabolic dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE

We studied associations of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) with incident diabetes, metabolic syndrome (MetS), and MetS components.

METHODS

A total of 2899 participants with baseline (2003-2007) and follow-up (2013-2016) examinations and baseline NT-proBNP measurement in the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke study. Logistic regression models were fitted to incident MetS, MetS components, and diabetes; covariates included demographics, risk and laboratory factors. Incident diabetes was defined as fasting glucose ≥126 mg/dL, random glucose ≥200 mg/dL, or use of insulin or hypoglycemic drugs at follow-up but not baseline. Incident MetS was defined as participants with ≥3 harmonized criteria at follow-up and <3 at baseline.

RESULTS

A total of 310 participants (2364 at risk) developed diabetes and 361 (2059 at risk) developed MetS over a mean 9.4 years of follow-up. NT-proBNP was inversely associated with odds of incident diabetes (fully adjusted OR per SD higher log NT-proBNP 0.80, 95% CI 0.69-0.93) and MetS in the highest vs lowest quartile only (fully adjusted OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.37-0.92); the linear association with incident MetS was not statistically significant. NT-proBNP was inversely associated with incident dysglycemia in all models (fully adjusted OR per SD log NT-proBNP 0.65, 95% CI 0.53-0.79), but not with other MetS components. Effect modification by sex, race, age, or body mass index was not observed.

CONCLUSION

NT-proBNP was inversely associated with odds of diabetes, MetS, and the MetS dysglycemia component. The metabolic implications of B-type natriuretic peptides appear important for glycemic homeostasis.