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AHA Scientific Sessions 2026 Abstract

Heart markers linked to cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes

A post-hoc analysis of 3,775 trial participants linked two heart markers to cardiovascular events, whether or not participants had chronic kidney disease.

Paper by Zhiqi Yao, Kershaw V. Patel, Katelyn R Garcia, +5 more authorsAmbarish Pandey · University of Michigan
Heart cross-section beside blood cells with dense and sparse dark markers, intact and thinned kidney sections, and a small exercising figure.

Our read

Interventions
Studied:
Cohort study of 3,775 adults with type 2 diabetes
What changed:
Higher starting heart-marker levels were linked to higher cardiovascular event risk, regardless of kidney disease status
The catch:
The abstract gives no effect size for the cardiovascular-risk association
In the record:
The 43rd paper on intensive lifestyle intervention with results in people; 58 on record in all.
Why it’s aging research:
It bears on staying healthy in midlife and later life.

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper
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Among 3,775 adults with type 2 diabetes, a post-hoc analysis of a lifestyle intervention trial examined blood markers and cardiovascular and kidney outcomes. Women made up 59.4% of participants, and 19.6% had chronic kidney disease. The trial compared an intensive lifestyle program targeting weight loss with diabetes support and education.

Higher starting levels of two markers—one reflecting heart strain and another heart muscle injury—were associated with higher cardiovascular event risk, regardless of kidney disease status. Participants with elevated levels of the heart-strain marker had a lower relative risk of reaching a very-high-risk chronic kidney disease category with the lifestyle program than with support and education (hazard ratio 0.43). Those with lower levels had no clear kidney benefit (hazard ratio 0.90; the range of likely values included no difference).

Why it matters

Managing diabetes complications is an important part of care as people age. The findings suggest that a heart-strain marker may help identify who gains kidney benefits from intensive lifestyle intervention.

Caveats

The kidney-benefit finding came from a post-hoc subgroup analysis. The conference abstract does not provide absolute kidney event rates or define the very-high-risk kidney disease category.

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