High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin-T and N-Terminal Prohormone of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide in Relation to Cardiovascular Outcomes in Type 1 Diabetes

Objective: High-sensitivity cardiac Troponin-T (hs-cTnT) and N-terminal pro B-Type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), biomarkers of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and heart failure, respectively, have not been widely studied in type 1 diabetes (T1D). We evaluated whether their assessment in T1D enhances the prediction of CVD and major atherosclerotic cardiovascular events (MACE). <p> </p> <p>Research Design and Methods: hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP were analyzed on the Roche Cobas E601 utilizing the first available stored specimen (n=581; mean age 29 and duration 21 years). CVD was defined as CVD death, myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, angina, ischemia, or stroke and MACE as CVD death, myocardial infarction, or stroke.</p> <p> </p> <p>Results: Median hs-cTnT (5.0 ng/L, IQR: <3.0, 10.0) was higher among men (p<0.0001), whereas median NT-proBNP (22.0 ng/L; 7.0, 61.0) did not differ by sex. In Cox models, log hs-cTnT (HR=1.38, p=0.0006) and log NT-proBNP (HR=1.24, p=0.0001) independently predicted CVD during 21 years of follow-up. However, their addition to models either singly or together did not significantly improve CVD prediction. Furthermore, a marginally significant sex interaction was observed (p=0.06), indicating that hs-cTnT’s prediction was limited to men. hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP also predicted MACE, although only NT-proBNP remained significant (HR=1.27, p=0.0009) when the biomarkers were included in a model simultaneously. Nonetheless, their addition to multivariable models did not enhance MACE prediction.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Conclusions: Sex differences were observed in the concentration and predictive ability of hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP in T1D. Overall, their addition to traditional risk factor models increased the area under the curve for neither CVD nor MACE.</p>