Serum Spermidine in Relation to Risk of Stroke: A Multilevel Study

Liqiang Zheng; Yanxia Xie; Zhaoqing Sun; Rui Zhang; Yanan Ma; Jiahui Xu; Jia Zheng; Qianyi Xu; Zhao Li; Xiaofan Guo; Guozhe Sun; Fuguo Xing; Yingxian Sun; Deliang Wen

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.843616

Serum Spermidine in Relation to Risk of Stroke: A Multilevel Study

Front Nutr. 2022 Apr 7:9:843616. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.843616. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Liqiang Zheng^{1

2

3}, Yanxia Xie⁴, Zhaoqing Sun⁵, Rui Zhang⁶, Yanan Ma^{7

8}, Jiahui Xu^{2

3}, Jia Zheng^{2

3}, Qianyi Xu^{2

3}, Zhao Li⁹, Xiaofan Guo⁹, Guozhe Sun⁹, Fuguo Xing¹⁰, Yingxian Sun⁹, Deliang Wen⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
³ Department of Health Policy and Hospital Management, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
⁴ National Office for Maternal and Child Health Surveillance of China, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
⁵ Department of Cardiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
⁶ College of Public Health, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai, China.
⁷ Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
⁸ Institute of Health Sciences, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
⁹ Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
¹⁰ Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.

Abstract

The relationship between serum spermidine levels and future cardiovascular disease risk has not yet been well elucidated in the general population based on community studies. Using a nested case-control study, we estimated the association between serum spermidine level and future stroke. New stroke cases had higher baseline levels of spermidine than controls [182.8 (141.8-231.5) vs. 152.0 (124.3-193.0), P < 0.001]. After multivariable adjustment, individuals with spermidine ≥ 205.9 nmol/L (T3) higher risks of stroke (HR 5.02, 95% CI 1.58-16.02) with the lowest quartile (< 136.9 nmol/L) as reference. The association between serum spermidine levels and risk of stroke seemed to be consistent and was reproducible in our cross-sectional studies. In addition, comparisons of the areas under receiver operator characteristics curves confirmed that a model including spermidine had better discrimination than without (0.755 vs. 0.715, P = 0.04). Here we report a close relationship exists between serum spermidine levels and risk of stroke.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease; epidemiology; nested case-control study; spermidine; stroke.