Biomarkers of inflammation and hemostasis associated with left ventricular mass: The Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

PURPOSE Biomarkers of inflammation and hemostasis have been associated with left ventricular (LV) mass. We studied relationships of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL6), D-dimer, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1), soluble thrombomodulin (sTM), soluble tumor necrosis factor type 1 receptor (sTNFR1), von Willebrand factor (vWF), soluble E-selectin (sE-selectin), factor VIII, fibrinogen, matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3), and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) with LV mass in an asymptomatic population. Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging to characterize LV mass; biomarkers were measured using standardized protocols (N = 763 to 4979). Adjusted models were used to associate each biomarker with LV mass while correcting for potential confounding. FINDINGS LV mass was associated with many biomarkers after adjustment for demographic characteristics and traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Although the demographic and risk factor adjustments attenuated the association of CRP and IL6 with LV mass, further adjustment for weight changed regression coefficients from positive to negative for CRP and IL6 for LV mass. sTM, Factor VIII, and vWF were directly associated with LV mass in fully-adjusted models. For sTNFR1, sICAM-1, D-dimer, fibrinogen, and PAI-1, adjustment for risk factors and weight rendered associations with LV mass nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS In this large cohort free of clinical cardiovascular disease, several hemostasis and inflammation markers were associated with LV mass. The unusual finding of a negative relationship of CRP and IL6 with LV mass only after adjustment for weight suggests that the effects of inflammation on LV mass are strongly influenced by obesity.