Association between perirenal fat thickness and risk of developing hypertension in a high-normal blood pressure...

The contribution of perirenal adipose tissue to hypertension progression has not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the association between perirenal fat thickness (PRFT) and the development of hypertension in a high-normal blood pressure population.

One hundred sixty-six subjects with high-normal blood pressure were enrolled from the Department of Cardiology of First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from May 2023 to April 2024. Perirenal ultrasonographic fat thickness was measured. Compared with the low PRFT group (PRFT ≤30 mm, n = 90), individuals in the high PRFT group (PRFT >30 mm, n = 76) had a higher proportion of males, elevated obesity indicators of body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and elevated metabolic markers of uric acid, fasting plasma glucose, urinary albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR), and triglyceride-glucose index (P < 0.05). At the one-year follow-up, higher PRFT was correlated with increased cumulative incidence of hypertension (27.6 % vs. 7.8 %, P < 0.001). After adjusting for potential confounders in the multivariate logistic regression analysis, PRFT was significantly associated with the occurrence of hypertension (OR = 1.085, 95 % CI: 1.013-1.163, P < 0.05). Mediation analysis revealed that urinary ACR mediated 25.59 % of the association between PRFT and hypertension progression. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.742 (95 % CI: 0.649-0.834, P < 0.001).

Increased PRFT was associated with the risk of developing hypertension in individuals with high-normal blood pressure, with urinary ACR partially mediating the association.