YKL-40 level and hypertension incidence: A population-based nested case-control study in China

Background-human cartilage glycoprotein-39 (ykl-40) has been suggested to be a new marker of inflammation,atherosclerosis,and endothelial dysfunction. however,whether a higher level of ykl-40 is an independent risk factor for hypertension incidence is still unknown. methods and results-in a nested case-control study within a prospective cohort of 12 423 initially healthy chinese adults,we measured baseline plasma concentrations of ykl-40 among 700 new-onset hypertension cases and 700 age- and sex-matched controls. multiple conditional logistic regression analyses were used to calculate the odds ratios (95% cis) of hypertension associated with higher levels of ykl-40 both in the total population and in the age- (>55 and ≤55 years) and sex-matched subgroups. among the total population,ykl-40 levels were not associated with hypertension risk. in the subgroup older than 55 years,odds ratios (95% cis) of hypertension for those in the two higher tertiles of ykl-40 were 1.23 (0.77-1.97) and 1.59 (0.99-2.55) (p for linear trend=0.05). in the male subgroup,odds ratios (95% cis) of hypertension for those in the two higher tertiles of ykl-40 were 1.55 (0.88-2.72) and 2.09 (1.14-3.82) (p for linear trend=0.02). an interaction effect was observed between ykl-40 and sex (p for interaction <0.01) but not between ykl-40 and age (p for interaction=0.21). high ykl-40 level significantly increased hypertension risk in men but decreased hypertension risk with a trend although not significant in women. conclusions-this study suggests that ykl-40 is associated with hypertension incidence only among men. the study findings need to be further verified by prospective cohort studies or clinical trials. © 2016 the authors.