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The link between vascular deterioration and branched chain amino acids in a population with high glycated haemoglobin: the SABPA study

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Abstract

Globally the prevalence of non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes, are escalating. Metabolomic studies indicated that circulating branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are associated with insulin resistance, coronary artery disease and increased risk for cardiovascular events. We aimed to extend the current understanding of the cardiovascular risk associated with BCAAs. We explored whether BCAAs are related to markers of cardiovascular disease in a bi-ethnic population and whether this relationship was influenced by chronic hyperglycaemia. We included 200 African and 209 Caucasian participants, and determined their ambulatory blood pressure and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). We analysed blood samples for glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and BCAAs. Participants were stratified into two groups according to their HbA1c value using the median cut-off value of 5.6 %. Ambulatory BP, cIMT and BCAAs were significantly higher (all p < 0.001) in the high HbA1c group. Single regression analyses indicated significant positive associations of ambulatory blood pressure and cIMT with BCAAs (all p < 0.05) in both the groups. These associations between ambulatory systolic blood pressure (SBP) (r = 0.16, p = 0.035) and cIMT (r = 0.22, p = 0.004) with BCAAs remained in the high HbA1c group after adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity and body mass index (BMI) and were confirmed in multiple regression analyses (ambulatory SBP: R 2 = 0.17, β = 0.21, p = 0.005 and cIMT: R 2 = 0.30, β = 0.19, p = 0.003). Our results demonstrate that BCAAs are independently related to ambulatory BP and cIMT in individuals with high HbA1c levels and suggest that potential cardiovascular deterioration accompany the rise in BCAAs in conditions of hyperglycaemia.

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Acknowledgments

The Sympathetic Activity and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Africans (SABPA) Study would not have been possible without the voluntary collaboration of the participants and the Department of Education, North-West Province, South Africa. We gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of Mrs Tina Scholtz, Dr Szabolcs Péter and Sr Chrissie Lessing. This study was supported by the National Research Foundation, South Africa; the North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa; Roche Products (Pty) Ltd, South Africa and the Metabolic Syndrome Institute, France.

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The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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Any opinion, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and therefore the NRF do not accept any liability in regard thereto.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART), North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

    C. M. Mels, A. E. Schutte, R. Schutte, H. W. Huisman, W. Smith, C. M. Fourie, R. Kruger, J. M. van Rooyen, N. T. Malan & L. Malan

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  1. C. M. Mels
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  2. A. E. Schutte
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Correspondence to C. M. Mels.

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Mels, C.M., Schutte, A.E., Schutte, R. et al. The link between vascular deterioration and branched chain amino acids in a population with high glycated haemoglobin: the SABPA study. Amino Acids 45, 1405–1413 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-013-1611-0

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