High serum copper levels may confer CVD mortality risk in men
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Elevated serum copper levels were associated with CVD mortality risk in men, especially those with obesity, according to findings presented at the virtual American Society for Preventive Cardiology Congress on CVD Prevention.
The presentation, by Nzechukwu Michael Isiozor, MD, MSc(PH), researcher in the Faculty of Health Sciences and PhD candidate at the University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland, won first place in the Early Career Presentation competition.
“Some studies have postulated that copper has a role in atherogenesis,” Isiozor said during the presentation. “With the probable role of copper in atherogenesis, we wanted to also evaluate whether it has any association with cardiovascular disease mortality.”
To investigate whether elevated copper concentration was associated with risk for CVD mortality, Isiozor and colleagues analyzed 1,911 Finnish men from the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Study (mean age at baseline, 53 years), a database designed to assess various risk factors for CVD and other chronic diseases.
All participants had serum copper levels measured by an atomic absorption spectrometer (PerkinElmer). The men were stratified into quartiles by serum copper level — < 1 mg/L, 1 to < 1.1 mg/L, 1.1 to < 1.21 mg/L and 1.21 mg/L — and into three groups by BMI — normal weight (< 25 kg/m2), pre-obese (25 to 29.9 kg/m2) or obese ( 30 kg/m2).
During 26 years of follow-up, 358 men died from CVD, Isiozor said.
After controlling for age, BP, socioeconomic status, HDL, total cholesterol, smoking status, alcohol use and type 2 diabetes status, the researchers found that the risk for CVD mortality rose the higher the quartile of serum copper level a participant was in, regardless of BMI group, Isiozor said in his presentation.
The risk was most pronounced in men with obesity (HR for quartile 4 vs. quartile 1 = 2.72; 95% CI, 1.28-5.76; P = .009; HR for quartile 3 vs. quartile 1 = 2.9; 95% CI, 1.36-6.19; P = .006) and in men with pre-obesity (HR for quartile 4 vs. quartile 1 = 2.03; 95% CI, 1.29-3.21; P = .002; HR for quartile 3 vs. quartile 1 = 2.26; 95% CI, 1.46-3.5; P < .001), he said.
“Serum copper could possibly be a prognostic marker or a risk factor for cardiovascular disease mortality,” Isiozor said in the presentation. “The exact mechanism requires further study.”
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Isiozor NM, et al. Early Career Presentations. Presented at: American Society for Preventive Cardiology Congress on CVD Prevention; July 23-25, 2021 (virtual meeting).
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