Higher gut hormone levels linked to cardiovascular events
The highest versus lowest third of hormone levels had a cardiovascular event hazard ratio of 1.79 after accounting for age and sex.
Limit: Adjustment for LDL and other cardiovascular risk factors weakened the association
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational study of 43,318 UK Biobank participants linked higher blood levels of peptide YY (PYY), a hormone released after eating, to cardiovascular events. These included cardiovascular death, nonfatal heart attack and nonfatal stroke.
Researchers compared participants in the highest and lowest thirds of PYY levels. The hazard ratio, a measure of relative risk over time, was 1.79 after accounting for age and sex. It fell to 1.27 after accounting for additional cardiovascular risk factors and health measurements. In an exploratory genetic analysis, people with two copies of a variant associated with lower PYY levels also had a lower incidence of cardiovascular events.
Why it matters
Cardiovascular disease is an important concern as people age. The findings suggest studying PYY further as a possible risk marker and treatment target.
Caveats
The observational findings cannot show that PYY causes cardiovascular disease. The genetic result was exploratory, and the report was a conference abstract.
The paper
Elevated levels of the incretin hormone PYY are associated with cardiovascular events
RWTH University Hospital Aachen
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
