Association of proteinuria and hypertension with incident atrial fibrillation in an elderly population: nationwide data from a community-based elderly cohort

Improved Proteinuria May Attenuate the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study

Background/Objectives: Proteinuria is documented as a risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF) and can manifest in either reversible or continued forms. Our objective was to examine the relationship between the change in status for proteinuria and the risk of AF in a longitudinal cohort study on the general population nationwide. Methods: We included participants (n = 1,708,103) who underwent repetitive health examinations. The presence of proteinuria was determined by dipstick urinalysis results. The outcome was the occurrence of AF (International Classification of Diseases-10 code: I48). Results: All included participants, 1,666,111 (97.5%), 17,659 (1.0%), 19,696 (1.2%), and 4637 (0.3%), were categorized into groups of proteinuria-free, improved, progressed, and persistent, respectively. During a median follow-up of 14.5 years, 41,190 (2.4%) cases of AF occurred. In the multivariable analysis, the risk of AF was increased as the initial severity was more severe in the proteinuria-improved and proteinuria-persistent groups (p for trend < 0.001). In a further pairwise comparison, the proteinuria-improved group had a relatively lower risk of AF compared to the proteinuria-persistent group (HR: 0.751, 95% CI: 0.652-0.865, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our study showed that the risk of AF can change according to alterations in proteinuria status. Notably, recovering from proteinuria can also be considered a modifiable risk factor for AF.

Proteinuria is independently associated with heart failure events in patients with atrial fibrillation: the Fushimi AF registry

AIMS

Previous studies have shown that proteinuria is independently associated with the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF), and is also associated with the incidence of cardiovascular events such as stroke and thromboembolism in patients with AF. However, the association of proteinuria with heart failure (HF) events in patients with AF remains unclear.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The Fushimi AF Registry is a community-based prospective study of patients with AF. Of the entire cohort of 4489 patients, 2164 patients had available data of proteinuria. We compared the clinical background and outcomes between patients with proteinuria (n = 606, 28.0%) and those without (n = 1558, 72.0%). Patients with proteinuria were older and had a higher prevalence of major co-morbidities. During the median follow-up of 5.0 years, the incidence rates of HF events (composite of cardiac death or HF hospitalization) were higher in patients with proteinuria than those without (4.1% vs. 2.1% person-year, P < 0.01). Multivariate analyses revealed that proteinuria was an independent risk factor of the incidence of HF events [adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 1.40, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.13-1.74]. This association was consistent among the various subgroups, except for the age subgroup in which there was a significant interaction (P < 0.01) between younger (<75 years) (unadjusted HR: 3.03, 95% CI: 2.12-4.34) and older (≥75 years) patients (unadjusted HR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.23-2.05).

CONCLUSION

Our community-based large prospective cohort suggests that proteinuria is independently associated with the incidence of HF events in Japanese patients with AF.

Association of proteinuria and risk of incident atrial fibrillation in the general population: A prospective study of Kailuan study participants

BACKGROUND

Proteinuria is a well-known cardiovascular risk factor, but whether it independently increases the risk for atrial fibrillation (AF) in Chinese population is unknown. To address this deficiency, herein, we investigated the association between proteinuria detected using urine dipstick test and the risk of AF.

METHODS

This was a prospective cohort study of Kailuan study participants who underwent the 2006-2007 and 2010-2011 health checkups and was free from AF. Participants were classified into four groups based on the level of proteinuria: [-, trace (±), 1+, ≥2+]. The outcome was incident AF as confirmed by 12-lead electrocardiography.

RESULTS

During a median of 11.90 years of follow-up, we documented 514 incident AF cases among 60,599 participants. Proteinuria was found in 6302 (10.40%) participants. Relative to participants without proteinuria at the baseline, those with proteinuria (≥2+) had an 83.9% higher risk (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.073-3.154, p = .0267) of developing AF, after adjusted for confounding variables. The result was consistent in the sensitivity analysis. Compared to consistently negative proteinuria, the risk of AF significantly increased in the aggravated proteinuria group (hazard ratio [HR] 1.552, 95% CI 1.140-2.114) and the persistent proteinuria group (HR 2.485, 95% CI 1.414-4.366). Among participants with resolved proteinuria (from positive to negative), the risk of incident AF was not significantly increased compared to those with persistently negative proteinuria (HR 1.300, 95% CI 0.743-2.276).

CONCLUSIONS

Proteinuria could be a modifiable risk factor for predicting AF development. Knowing the presence of proteinuria may improve risk stratification for decision-making about AF prevention.

Sex differences in the association between blood pressure and atrial fibrillation: A case-control study

Background

To examine the association of hypertension (HBP) and its control with atrial fibrillation (AF) and how patient sex affects this association.

Materials and methods

A case control study of patients admitted to our hospital from 2015 to 2019 was conducted. Patients were divided into subgroups according to their blood pressure (BP) levels and control status, in which odd ratios (OR) by sex for AF was estimated using a logistic regression model and restrictive cubic splines before and after propensity score matching.

Results

A total of 3,212 patients with AF and 8,307 without AF were investigated. Compared to patients with normal BP, patients with HBP had more AF [OR = 1.75 (1.52-2.02), OR = 2.66 (2.24-3.15), and OR = 4.30 (3.40-5.44) in patients with grade 1, 2, and 3 HBP, respectively]. In HBP patients with grade 3, the OR of AF was much higher in women than in men (OR = 7.15, 95% CI: 4.43-11.50 vs. OR = 2.48, 95% CI: 1.66-3.72). BP over 133.1/79.9 mmHg in men or 127.1/75.1 mmHg in women was positively associated with AF. In patients with HBP, uncontrolled BP was more associated with AF (OR = 3.00, 95% CI: 2.53-3.56), especially in women (OR = 3.09, 95% CI: 2.27-4.19). BP and prevalence of AF correlated with each other positively in patients admitted to a cardiology ward. Lowering BP to 145.1/85.8 mmHg in men or 140.5/82.5 mmHg in women led to less AF.

Conclusion

There is more significant relationship between HBP and AF in female patients. A lower and individualized BP target may be formulated to prevent AF in women.