Zhongguo quanke yixue (May 2022)
A Longitudinal Cohort Study on the Effect of Serum Bilirubin on the Progression of Carotid Atherosclerosis in Healthy People
Abstract
Background Cross-sectional studies have shown that the level of bilirubin in vivo is related to the progression of atherosclerosis, but the data from large-scale studies in China and even in the world are very limited. Objective To investigate the effect of serum total bilirubin (TBIL) and indirect bilirubin (IBIL) on the progression of carotid atherosclerosis in healthy people. Methods Retrospective cohort study was adopted to select 11 394 healthy people who had continuous physical examination and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) ≤1 mm displayed by carotid artery ultrasound examination as the research subjects in Hebei General Hospital from January 2010 to December 2019. Demographic characteristics, past medical history, physical examination, laboratory examination results of previous physical examination, carotid artery ultrasound and other information of subjects were collected. The subjects were divided into the progressive carotid atherosclerosis group and the non-progressive group according to whether cIMT increased during follow-up. The Cox proportional regression model was used to explore the effect of bilirubin on the progression of carotid atherosclerosis, and Cox regression analysis was performed by gender, age, body mass index (BMI) , hypertension, diabetes, smoking and alcohol consumption. Results 1 586 cases of carotid atherosclerosis progression were detected in 10 years, with a cumulative incidence rate of 13.9%. The results of Cox regression analysis showed that for every 1 standard deviation increase in TBIL and IBIL levels, the risk of carotid atherosclerosis progression decreased by 6.6% and 17.4%, respectively〔HR (95%CI) =0.934 (0.881, 0.990) ; HR (95%CI) =0.826 (0.777, 0.877) 〕 after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, triglyceride, alanine aminotransferase and estimated glomerular filtration rate. Subgroup analysis showed that there was no statistical difference in the protective effects of TBIL and IBIL on different subgroups. Conclusion TBIL and IBIL levels are independent protective factors for the progression of carotid atherosclerosis in healthy subjects. Elevated bilirubin levels reduce the risk of carotid atherosclerosis progression, with IBIL being more potent in preventing carotid atherosclerosis progression.
Keywords
