Chronic Inflammation: A Common Pathway Linking Genetic and Environmental Cardiovascular Risk

Higher levels of chronic systemic inflammation were associated with smaller left ventricular volumes, compensatory increases in heart rate, and substantially higher cardiovascular risk in a large UK Biobank study. Among 488,079 participants with metabolomic, proteomic, cardiac MRI, and longitudinal data, higher inflammation measured by glycoprotein acetyls (GlycA) was associated with reduced indexed left ventricular end-diastolic volume and stroke volume, while heart rate increased. Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist statistically mediated about 27% of the association between GlycA and end-diastolic volume, supporting a potential role for inflammatory signaling in cardiac remodeling. Participants in the highest GlycA quintile had a 43% higher risk of major adverse cardiovascular events than those in the lowest quintile (adjusted HR, 1.43). Trunk fat mass, current smoking, psychological distress, and lower socioeconomic status were among the strongest environmental determinants of GlycA, while genetic cardiovascular risk modified some associations between environmental exposures, inflammation, and cardiovascular events. These findings suggest that chronic inflammation may influence cardiac structure and cardiovascular risk through inflammatory pathways involving cytokines such as IL-1 and TNF, with risk reflecting the combined effects of inherited and acquired factors. Source: https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc