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Longitudinal course of GDF15 levels before acute hospitalization and death in the general population

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Abstract

Growth differentiation 15 (GDF15) is a potential novel biomarker of biological aging. To separate the effects of chronological age and birth cohort from biological age, longitudinal studies investigating the associations of GDF15 levels with adverse health outcomes are needed. We investigated changes in GDF15 levels over 10 years in an age-stratified sample of the general population and their relation to the risk of acute hospitalization and death. Serum levels of GDF15 were measured three times in 5-year intervals in 2176 participants aged 30, 40, 50, or 60 years from the Danish population-based DAN-MONICA cohort. We assessed the association of single and repeated GDF15 measurements with the risk of non-traumatic acute hospitalizations. We tested whether changes in GDF15 levels over 10 years differed according to the frequency of hospitalizations within 2 years or survival within 20 years, after the last GDF15 measurement. The change in GDF15 levels over time was dependent on age and sex. Higher GDF15 levels and a greater increase in GDF15 levels were associated with an increased risk of acute hospitalization in adjusted Cox regression analyses. Participants with more frequent admissions within 2 years, and those who died within 20 years, after the last GDF15 measurement already had elevated GDF15 levels at baseline and experienced greater increases in GDF15 levels during the study. The change in GDF15 levels was associated with changes in C-reactive protein and biomarkers of kidney, liver, and cardiac function. Monitoring of GDF15 starting in middle-aged could be valuable for the prediction of adverse health outcomes.

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Data availability

The datasets are not publicly available due to regulations set out by the Danish Data Protection Agency but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Research, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Kettegaard Alle 30, DK-2650, Hvidovre, Denmark

    Juliette Tavenier, Ove Andersen, Jan O. Nehlin & Janne Petersen

  2. Emergency Department, Copenhagen University Hospital Amager and Hvidovre, Kettegaard Alle 30, 2650, Hvidovre, Denmark

    Ove Andersen

  3. Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3B, 2200, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Ove Andersen

  4. Center for Clinical Research and Prevention, Copenhagen University Hospital, Nordre Fasanvej 57, 2000, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    Janne Petersen

  5. Section of Biostatistics, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1014, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Janne Petersen

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JT: Conceptualization, data analysis, interpretation of the results, writing of the original draft, figure preparation, review, and editing; OA: Conceptualization, interpretation of the results, review, and editing. JON: Conceptualization, interpretation of the results, review, and editing. JP: Conceptualization, data analysis, interpretation of the results, figure preparation, review, and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Juliette Tavenier.

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Tavenier, J., Andersen, O., Nehlin, J.O. et al. Longitudinal course of GDF15 levels before acute hospitalization and death in the general population. GeroScience 43, 1835–1849 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-021-00359-5

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