This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Proneurotensin may increase risk for CVD, diabetes, breast cancer in women
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Researchers have reported an association between levels of proneurotensin — a precursor of the hormone neurotensin — and the development of CVD, CV and total mortality, and breast cancer in women during long-term follow-up.
Neurotensin, which is primarily expressed in the central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract, regulates satiety and breast cancer growth in the experimental setting, the researchers wrote, although data on its relationship with breast cancer and cardiometabolic disease in humans are lacking.
Olle Melander, MD, PhD, of Lund University in Malmö, Sweden, and colleagues measured plasma concentrations of proneurotensin in 4,632 fasting participants from the population-based Malmö Diet and Cancer Study baseline examination from 1991 to 1994. Median follow-up ranged from 13.2 to 15.7 years, depending on disease.
Overall, proneurotensin was related to risk for new diabetes (HR=1.28; 95% CI, 1.09-1.5), CVD (HR=1.17; 95% CI, 1.07-1.27) and CV mortality (HR=1.29; 95% CI, 1.12-1.49). Results also indicated a significant interaction between proneurotensin and sex in terms of risk for CVD (P<.001). Additionally, the researchers found that, exclusively in women, proneurotensin was associated with new diabetes (HR=1.41; 95% CI, 1.12-1.77), CVD (HR=1.33; 95% CI, 1.17-1.51), breast cancer (HR=1.44; 95% CI, 1.21-1.71), total mortality (HR=1.13; 95% CI, 1.01-1.27) and CV mortality (HR=1.5; 95% CI, 1.2-1.87).
“The elevation of proneurotensin several years before onset of disease indicates that proneurotensin is a marker of underlying disease susceptibility rather than being an expression of subclinical disease,” the researchers wrote. “As an observational study, our results do not prove any causation between proneurotensin and cardiometabolic disease and breast cancer.”
They also said because the interaction between sex and proneurotensin was only significant for CVD, further evidence is needed before determining that the association between proneurotensin and adverse outcome is specific for women.
Disclosure: Some of the researchers report financial ties with SphingoTec GmbH, and one researcher is an employee of AstraZeneca.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts