Blood mutations and inflammation link to worse heart outcomes
Among patients with high scores on a combined blood index, serious cardiovascular events occurred in 58.1% with blood mutations versus 35.9% without.
Limit: Follow-up duration and the cutoff defining high index scores were not reported
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In a prospective observational study, researchers followed 1,388 patients with acute coronary syndrome, a sudden reduction in blood flow to the heart, who underwent artery-opening procedures. They sequenced 42 genes associated with clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential, a condition involving groups of blood cells with shared mutations. They also measured an index combining C-reactive protein, an inflammation marker, blood fats and blood sugar.
Among patients with high index scores, major cardiovascular events occurred in 58.1% with mutations versus 35.9% without. In the low-score group, common mutations were associated with higher mortality from any cause, with an adjusted hazard ratio of up to 1.94, a measure of relative risk. In the high-score group, researchers found no statistically significant association between mutations and mortality. Patients with both high scores and mutations also had higher rates of cardiac death and worse overall survival.
Why it matters
For patients with acute coronary syndrome, better prediction of recurrent cardiovascular events may help guide ongoing care. The authors proposed combining these measures in risk models to personalize care after artery-opening procedures.
Caveats
This observational study identified associations, not causal effects, and its findings may not apply to people without acute coronary syndrome. The conference abstract did not report follow-up duration or the cutoff defining high index scores.
- Acute coronary syndrome
- Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential
- ST-elevation myocardial infarction
- C-reactive protein-triglyceride-glucose index
- Chronic kidney disease
- Humans
