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Physical Activity, Inflammation, Coronary Artery Calcification, and Incident Coronary Heart Disease in African
Daisuke Kamimura1, Loretta R Cain-Shields2, Donald Clark3
1Department of Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson; Department of Medical Science and Cardiorenal Medicine, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.
Insights
Maintaining ideal physical activity (PA) is linked to reduced inflammation, coronary artery calcification (CAC), and future coronary heart disease (CHD) risk in African Americans.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Health
- Public Health
- Exercise Science
Background:
- Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains a significant health concern, particularly within African American communities.
- Understanding the interplay between physical activity (PA), inflammation, and subclinical atherosclerosis is crucial for targeted interventions.
- The Jackson Heart Study provides a valuable cohort for investigating these associations in a specific demographic.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between physical activity levels, inflammation markers, coronary artery calcification (CAC) prevalence, and incident coronary heart disease (CHD) in African Americans.
- To assess whether ideal physical activity, as defined by the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 metrics, is associated with reduced cardiovascular risk factors.
- To determine the impact of physical activity on subclinical and clinical manifestations of CHD in a community-based African American cohort.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from 4295 participants in the Jackson Heart Study without prevalent CHD at baseline.
- Classification of participants into poor, intermediate, or ideal physical activity categories based on established metrics.
- Statistical modeling to examine associations between physical activity, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (inflammation), CAC presence, and incident CHD events over a median follow-up of 12.8 years.
Main Results:
- Ideal physical activity was significantly associated with lower high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels (β = -0.15) and a reduced prevalence of coronary artery calcification (OR = 0.70) compared to poor physical activity.
- During follow-up, 164 incident CHD events occurred.
- Participants with ideal physical activity demonstrated a significantly lower rate of incident CHD compared to those with poor physical activity (HR = 0.55).
Conclusions:
- In a large, community-based African American cohort, achieving ideal physical activity levels is associated with lower inflammation and a reduced prevalence of coronary artery calcification.
- Ideal physical activity is linked to a significantly lower risk of developing incident coronary heart disease.
- Promoting ideal physical activity is a potential strategy to mitigate subclinical and clinical CHD risk in African Americans.
Objective:
To examine associations between physical activity (PA), inflammation, coronary artery calcification (CAC), and incident coronary heart disease (CHD) in African Americans.
Methods:
Among Jackson Heart Study participants without prevalent CHD at baseline (n=4295), we examined the relationships between PA and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, the presence of CAC (Agatston score ≥100), and incident CHD. Based on the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 metrics, participants were classified as having poor, intermediate, or ideal PA.
Results:
After adjustment for possible confounding factors, ideal PA was associated with lower high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels (β, -0.15; 95% CI, -0.15 to -0.002) and a lower prevalence of CAC (odds ratio, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.51-0.96) compared with poor PA. During a median of 12.8 years of follow-up, there were 164 incident CHD events (3.3/1000 person-years). Ideal PA was associated with a lower rate of incident CHD compared with poor PA (hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.31-0.98).
Conclusion:
In a large community-based African American cohort, ideal PA was associated with lower inflammation levels, a lower prevalence of CAC, and a lower rate of incident CHD. These findings suggest that promotion of ideal PA may be an important way to reduce the risk of subclinical and future clinical CHD in African Americans.
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