Plasma proANP 1-98 levels are positively associated with central obesity: A cross-sectional study in a general population of China.

BACKGROUND: Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and its prohormone activating enzyme are associated with central obesity, suggesting there may be a potential relationship between proANP1-98 and central obesity. However, the association is still lack of population-based evidence. We explored the association in a general population of China.

METHODS: We measured plasma proANP1-98 , waist circumference and other traditional biomarkers in 2203 participants aged≥30y. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to determine the association between plasma proANP1-98 and central obesity, and odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated.

RESULTS: High proANP1-98 was significantly associated with increased risk of central obesity in participants, and the multivariate adjusted OR (95% CI) of central obesity associated with the second, third and fourth quartiles of proANP1-98 were 1.33 (1.03-1.72), 1.69 (1.31-2.19) and 1.76 (1.35-2.29), respectively, compared with the lowest quartile of proANP1-98 . There was a dose-response relationship between proANP1-98 and risk of central obesity among the participants (Ptrend <0.001). Sensitivity analyses further confirmed these associations. Adding proANP1-98 to a model containing conventional risk factors improved discriminatory power of central obesity (as shown by significant improvement in continuous NRI and IDI).

CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to known reduced ANP levels in central obesity, we found that plasma proANP1-98 was positively associated with central obesity, suggesting that elevated plasma proANP1-98 may be a marker or a risk factor for central obesity.