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(Circulation. 2002;105:e9103.)
© 2002 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cardiovascular News

Ruth SoRelle, MPH

Circulation Newswriter

The Proinsulin Story Also Gets Stronger

For 27 years, Swedish and British researchers followed 874 men to determine the relationship between various molecules of proinsulin and the development of coronary heart disease. The study, led by Bjorn Zethelius, MD, of the Departments of Public Health Care Sciences/Geriatrics at Uppsala University, Sweden, appears in this week’s issue of Circulation (Circulation. 2002;105:2153–2158). According to Zethelius and colleagues, "It has been suggested that increased concentrations of insulin precursor molecules, rather than plasma insulin per se, constitute the association with coronary heart disease."

The researchers evaluated increased plasma immunoreactive insulin, intact proinsulin, 32-33 split proinsulin, and specific insulin, and their relationship to death from cardiovascular causes in this male population comprised of members who were at least 50 years old when the study began. Researchers from the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, United Kingdom, were coauthors and contributed to the study analysis.

They found that the relationship between intact proinsulin and death from myocardial infarction was strongest. They determined that proinsulin itself is a strong and highly significant predictor of coronary heart disease, independent of other known risk factors.

Pregnancy Problematic for Women With Heart Disease
The infants of women with heart disease are more likely to suffer newborn problems compared with infants born to healthy women, according to a group of researchers from the University of Toronto, in a report appearing in this week’s issue of Circulation (Circulation. 2002;105:2179–2184). In the study, led by Samuel C. Siu, MD, SM, and others from the University, researchers concluded that when women . . . [Full Text of this Article]