Epicardial Adiposity is Associated with Microalbuminuria in Patients with Essential Hypertension

Measurement of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is suggested as a novel cardiometabolic risk factor. Microalbuminuria is a marker of endothelial dysfunction and is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease in patients with systemic hypertension. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of echocardiographic epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness and microalbuminuria in hypertensive patients.

75 essential hypertensive patients were included into the study. All subjects underwent transthoracic echocardiography to measure EAT thickness. Spot urine sample was collected for the assessment of microalbuminuria. Patients were divided into two groups according to their spot urine albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR); Group 1 included normoalbuminuria (0-30 μg/mg); and Group 2: included microalbuminuria (30-300 μg/mg). Thereafter, we evaluated patient characteristics including smoking status, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), antihypertensive treatment, statin therapy and serum levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglicerides, albumin, C-reactive protein (CRP), creatinine and hemoglobin.

There was no difference in baseline characteristics between Group 1 and Group 2. Patients with microalbuminuria had significantly higher mean EAT thickness values compared to the normoalbuminuria group (7.1 ± 0.9 vs. 6.6 ± 0.9, p = 0.01). There were positive significant correlations between EAT and age (r = 0.267, p = 0.020), serum creatinine (r = 0.292, p = 0.01), UACR (r = 0.251, p = 0.03), left ventricular mass (r = 0.257, p = 0.03) and left ventricular mass index (r = 0.242, p = 0.04). UACR was independently associated with EAT (p = 0.01) after adjustments were made for age and BMI.

Epicardial Adipose Tissue (EAT) thickness could be associated with microalbuminuria in patients with essential hypertension. This association could support the recognition of EAT as a credible marker in cardiovascular risk stratification.