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Fasting levels of growth hormone are associated with carotid intima media thickness but are not affected by fluvastatin treatment

Hallengren, Erik LU ; Almgren, Peter LU ; Rosvall, Maria LU ; Östling, Gerd LU ; Persson, Margaretha LU orcid ; Bergmann, Andreas ; Struck, Joachim ; Engström, Gunnar LU ; Hedblad, Bo LU and Melander, Olle LU orcid (2017) In BMC Cardiovascular Disorders 17(1).
Abstract

Background: Growth hormone (GH) has been linked to cardiovascular disease but the exact mechanism of this association is still unclear. We here test if the fasting levels of GH are cross-sectionally associated with carotid intima media thickness (IMT) and whether treatment with fluvastatin affects the fasting level of GH. Methods: We examined the association between GH and IMT in 4425 individuals (aged 46-68 years) included in the baseline examination (1991-1994) of the Malmö Diet and Cancer cardiovascular cohort (MDC-CC). From that cohort we then studied 472 individuals (aged 50-70 years) who also participated (1994-1999) in the β-Blocker Cholesterol-Lowering Asymptomatic Plaque Study (BCAPS), a randomized, double blind,... (More)

Background: Growth hormone (GH) has been linked to cardiovascular disease but the exact mechanism of this association is still unclear. We here test if the fasting levels of GH are cross-sectionally associated with carotid intima media thickness (IMT) and whether treatment with fluvastatin affects the fasting level of GH. Methods: We examined the association between GH and IMT in 4425 individuals (aged 46-68 years) included in the baseline examination (1991-1994) of the Malmö Diet and Cancer cardiovascular cohort (MDC-CC). From that cohort we then studied 472 individuals (aged 50-70 years) who also participated (1994-1999) in the β-Blocker Cholesterol-Lowering Asymptomatic Plaque Study (BCAPS), a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled, single-center clinical trial. Using multivariate linear regression models we related the change in GH-levels at 12 months compared with baseline to treatment with 40 mg fluvastatin once daily. Results: In MDC-CC fasting values of GH exhibited a positive cross-sectional relation to the IMT at the carotid bulb independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors (p = 0.002). In a gender-stratified analysis the correlation were significant for males (p = 0.005), but not for females (p = 0.09). Treatment with fluvastatin was associated with a minor reduction in the fasting levels of hs-GH in males (p = 0.05) and a minor rise in the same levels among females (p = 0.05). Conclusions: We here demonstrate that higher fasting levels of GH are associated with thicker IMT in the carotid bulb in males. Treatment with fluvastatin for 12 months only had a minor, and probably not clinically relevant, effect on the fasting levels of hs-GH.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cardiovascular disease, Growth hormone, Imt, Lipids, Statins
in
BMC Cardiovascular Disorders
volume
17
issue
1
article number
125
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • pmid:28511669
  • wos:000401701000001
  • scopus:85019465217
ISSN
1471-2261
DOI
10.1186/s12872-017-0563-9
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
da8876e3-f7d0-4bc6-a796-c96895beadf9
date added to LUP
2017-07-03 15:56:29
date last changed
2025-01-07 16:29:58
@article{da8876e3-f7d0-4bc6-a796-c96895beadf9,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Growth hormone (GH) has been linked to cardiovascular disease but the exact mechanism of this association is still unclear. We here test if the fasting levels of GH are cross-sectionally associated with carotid intima media thickness (IMT) and whether treatment with fluvastatin affects the fasting level of GH. Methods: We examined the association between GH and IMT in 4425 individuals (aged 46-68 years) included in the baseline examination (1991-1994) of the Malmö Diet and Cancer cardiovascular cohort (MDC-CC). From that cohort we then studied 472 individuals (aged 50-70 years) who also participated (1994-1999) in the β-Blocker Cholesterol-Lowering Asymptomatic Plaque Study (BCAPS), a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled, single-center clinical trial. Using multivariate linear regression models we related the change in GH-levels at 12 months compared with baseline to treatment with 40 mg fluvastatin once daily. Results: In MDC-CC fasting values of GH exhibited a positive cross-sectional relation to the IMT at the carotid bulb independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors (p = 0.002). In a gender-stratified analysis the correlation were significant for males (p = 0.005), but not for females (p = 0.09). Treatment with fluvastatin was associated with a minor reduction in the fasting levels of hs-GH in males (p = 0.05) and a minor rise in the same levels among females (p = 0.05). Conclusions: We here demonstrate that higher fasting levels of GH are associated with thicker IMT in the carotid bulb in males. Treatment with fluvastatin for 12 months only had a minor, and probably not clinically relevant, effect on the fasting levels of hs-GH.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hallengren, Erik and Almgren, Peter and Rosvall, Maria and Östling, Gerd and Persson, Margaretha and Bergmann, Andreas and Struck, Joachim and Engström, Gunnar and Hedblad, Bo and Melander, Olle}},
  issn         = {{1471-2261}},
  keywords     = {{Cardiovascular disease; Growth hormone; Imt; Lipids; Statins}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Cardiovascular Disorders}},
  title        = {{Fasting levels of growth hormone are associated with carotid intima media thickness but are not affected by fluvastatin treatment}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12872-017-0563-9}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12872-017-0563-9}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}