Forerunner to insulin may predict coronary hea...( American Heart Association rapid acce...),Health

DALLAS, Feb. 26 Measuring levels of a molecule that precedes insulin formation appears to be an accurate way to predict heart disease risk in men and women, according to a report in todays online issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The molecule is called proinsulin. Researchers found that an elevated level of proinsulin, but not insulin, was associated with about a two-fold increased risk of heart disease in nondiabetic men and women who had suspected but unconfirmed blockages in their coronary blood vessels. This association was stronger in older people.

We found that proinsulin was a better predictor of coronary heart disease than insulin was, says Jee-Young Oh, M.D., who conducted the research while completing a fellowship at the University of California, San Diego. Measurement of proinsulin might help identify patients who have coronary disease and maybe those who are at high risk for developing coronary disease. Additional studies are needed to clarify the insulin findings, as well as the factors involved in the association between proinsulin and heart disease, Oh and her colleagues conclude.

After laboratory tests for proinsulin became available in the early 1990s, several research groups reported that proinsulin was a better predictor of heart disease risk than insulin. However, potential differences between men and women had not been studied, Oh notes.

Proinsulin is one of several molecules involved in the formation of insulin in the body that appears to impair blood clotting. Increased levels of insulin and proinsulin have been associated with coronary heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and obesity. High insulin levels have been identified as a coronary disease marker in men. To evaluate proinsulins accuracy as a marker for coronary disease, researchers evaluated laborat
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Contact: Carole Bullock
carole.bullock@heart.org
214-706-1279
American Heart Association
25-Feb-2002