Associations between psychosocial burden and prognostic biomarkers in patients with chronic coronary syndrome: a STABILITY substudy.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To investigate associations between psychosocial burden and biomarkers reflecting pathophysiological pathways in patients with chronic coronary syndrome. METHODS: Psychosocial (PS) factors were collected from self-assessed questionnaires and biomarkers representing inflammation (high-sensitivity [hs]-C-reactive protein [CRP], interleukin-6 [IL-6], lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 [Lp-PLA2]) and cardiac injury/stress (hs-troponin T [hs-TnT], N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide [NT-proBNP]) were measured in 12,492 patients with chronic coronary syndrome in the STABILITY trial. Associations between level of each psychosocial factor (never-rarely (reference), sometimes, often-always) and biomarkers were evaluated using linear models with adjusted geometric mean ratios (GMR). A score comprising four factors ('feeling down', 'loss of interest', financial stress', 'living alone') that previously demonstrated association with cardiovascular (CV) outcome was created, and categorized into three levels low, moderate and high PS burden. Associations between PS score and biomarkers were evaluated similarly. RESULTS: Greater PS burden was significantly associated with a gradual increase in inflammatory biomarkers (GMR [95% CI] for moderate vs low PS burden; and high vs low PS burden) hs-CRP (1.09 [1.04-1.14]; 1.12 [1.06-1.17]), IL-6 (1.05 [1.02-1.07]; 1.08 [1.05-1.11]), LpPLA2 (1.01 [1.00 - 1.02]; 1.02 [1.01-1.04]) and cardiac biomarkers hs-TnT (1.03 [1.01-1.06]; 1.06 [1.03-1.09]) and NT-proBNP (1.09 [1.04-1.13]; 1.21 [1.15-1.27]). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with chronic coronary syndrome, greater psychosocial burden was associated with increased levels of inflammatory and cardiac biomarkers. While this observational study does not establish causal nature of these associations, the findings suggest inflammation and cardiac injury/stress as plausible pathways linking psychosocial burden to an elevated CV risk, that needs to be further explored.

We studied the association between psychosocial factors and various circulating protein biomarkers, reflecting different underlying mechanisms of disease, with the hope of shedding light on the link between psychological factors like depression and stress and the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with chronic coronary syndrome. We analysed data from the global large-scale STABILITY trial, which included more than 12,000 patients with chronic coronary syndrome. Participants filled out a questionnaire assessing their level of psychosocial burden, including experiences of depressive symptoms, stress at home, at work and financial stress. Additionally, blood samples were collected in which biomarkers (NTproBNP, high-sensitive Troponin-T, Interleukin-6, CRP and LpPLA2) were analysed. Our findings revealed a significant association between higher psychosocial burden and increased concentrations of biomarkers in patients with chronic coronary syndrome. These biomarkers reflect both inflammatory processes and cardiac damage or dysfunction which could be potential disease mechanisms explaining the increased risk of adverse events in patients with chronic coronary syndrome and high psychosocial burden. Although causal relationships cannot be determined from this study, the findings suggest that inflammation and cardiac stress may play crucial roles in linking psychosocial factors to heightened cardiovascular risk in this patient population. These insights could pave the way for better understanding and managing cardiovascular health in individuals with chronic coronary syndrome, offering hope for more targeted interventions in the future.