Abstract 14866: Plasma B-type Natriuretic Peptide Levels Are Associated With Future Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Without Known Cardiovascular Disease
Introduction: B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is known to predict future cardiovascular (CV) events in patients with known CV disease. However, these associations have not been investigated in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) without known CV disease. We investigated whether BNP levels are associated with CV events among T2DM patients without known CV disease using the dataset of EMPATHY study. Methods and Results: The EMPATHY was a randomized controlled trial of intensive statin therapy in T2DM patients without known CV disease. CV events were defined as composite of cardiac (acute coronary syndrome and coronary revascularization [excluding heart failure]), cerebral, and vascular events. A total of 4704 patients without CV events or death during the first 12 months were included and 114 CV events occurred during a median follow-up of 37.8 months. The patients were divided based on quartile of baseline BNP levels (Q1: <7.4, Q2: 7.4-14.8, Q3: 14.8-28.7, Q4: ≥28.7 [pg/mL]). Compared to the lowest quartile of BNP, only the highest quartile was associated with increased risk for CV events after adjustment (HR 2.96, 95% CI 1.29-6.79, p=0.010). Using this highest quartile cutoff, we categorized BNP <28.7 pg/mL as low BNP and BNP ≥28.7 pg/mL as high BNP. Compared to patients with low BNP, the adjusted HRs for CV events were 2.12 (95% CI 1.35-3.34, p=0.001) in patients with high BNP at baseline and 2.64 (95% CI 1.67-4.17, p<0.001) in those with high BNP at 12 months. In analysis using serial measurement, patients who had repeatedly high BNP or had low BNP at baseline and high BNP at 12 months were in significantly higher risk for CV events compared to those who had repeatedly low BNP (HR 3.28, 95% CI 1.90-5.66, p<0.001 or HR 2.65, 95% CI 1.44-4.87, p=0.002, respectively), whereas those who had high BNP at baseline and low BNP at 12 months were not (HR 1.99, 95% CI 0.90-4.39, p=0.089). Conclusion: Increased BNP levels were associated with higher risk of CV events (excluding heart failure) in T2DM patients without known CV disease. HR for CV events was greater in patients with repeatedly high BNP than in those with high BNP at only one of the two measurements, suggesting that serial BNP measurement may be more useful for predicting future CV events in T2DM patients.