| Title: | Blood pressure, proteomic vascular ageing, and incident cardiovascular disease |
| Journal: | European Journal of Preventive Cardiology |
| Published: | 5 Dec 2025 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41346045/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwaf757 |
Publication 16735
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Abstract
AIMS: Blood proteomic profiling may model vascular biological aging with high precision. This study aimed to assess the association between blood pressure and proteomic vascular aging, and its potential mediation effects in the relationship between high blood pressure and incident cardiovascular events.</p>
METHODS: Among 45,387 UK Biobank participants, we developed a proteomic vascular aging signature (vascular age gap) using 21 heart- and artery-enriched proteins via a LightGBM model. Associations with vascular age gap were evaluated for blood pressure categories and continuous systolic/diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP). Mediation analyses examined the role of proteomic vascular aging in the link between high blood pressure and cardiovascular events.</p>
RESULTS: Compared to normotensive participants, vascular age gap was significantly higher in those with high-normal blood pressure (0.122±0.048 years, P=0.011), grade 1 hypertension (0.266±0.049 years, P<0.001), and grade 2 hypertension (0.494±0.071 years, P<0.001). Non-linear associations were observed for both SBP and DBP, with thresholds near 120/80 mm Hg. The associations were stronger in midlife adults. The vascular age gap may mediate 3.73% to 10.59% of the association between grade 2 hypertension and cardiovascular events. No mediation was observed for peripheral artery disease in grade 2 hypertension. The most influential proteins exhibited potential mediation effects, with TNFRSF11B and CRLF1 consistently contributed to mediation across blood pressure categories and outcomes.</p>
CONCLUSIONS: High blood pressure is associated with accelerated proteomic vascular aging, which potentially mediates its link to cardiovascular events. This supports vascular age gap as a modest but significant marker of blood pressure-related cardiovascular risk.</p>
7 Authors
- Minghao Kou
- Xuan Wang
- Hao Ma
- Yoriko Heianza
- Kirsten Dorans
- Lydia Bazzano
- Lu Qi
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 29256 | Study of gene-environment interaction and Mendelian randomization of obesity and cardiometabolic risk |
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