Background: We explored the association of N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) with metabolic traits in a bi-ethnic African-Caucasian cohort.
Methods: Baseline examinations of the Sympathetic activity and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in African (SABPA) prospective cohort study were performed between 2008 and 2009, and re-examination after a three-year follow up in South African teachers (black African, n = 194; Caucasian, n = 203).
Results: Each one standard deviation increment of NT-proBNP was significantly inversely associated with body mass index ( β -1.01), glycated haemoglobin ( β -0.14 %), waist circumference (β -1.82), HOMA-IR (β -0.47), insulin (β -1.66) and triglyceride levels (β -0.04). Each one standard deviation increment of NT-proBNP was also associated with reduced odds of incident diabetes, and subjects within the highest quartile of NT-proBNP were at lowest risk (OR: 0.24; 95% CI: 0.06-0.96; p = 0.041).
Conclusions: In the SABPA cohort, Africans and Caucasians had similar NT-proBNP levels; however, the associations for Africans were stronger. Those findings suggest that BNP may affect the propensity for metabolic disturbances differently in Africans and Caucasians.
Keywords: Africans; Caucasians; NT‐proBNP; bi‐ethnic; metabolic.