Cardiovascular function is not associated with creatine kinase activity in a black African population: The SABPA study

BACKGROUND: Higher creatine kinase (CK) activity is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease in black African populations. We compared CK activity and investigated associations of blood pressure with CK activity in black and white men as well as black and white women. METHODS: Ambulatory blood pressure, total peripheral resistance and pulse wave velocity of 197 black and 208 white participants were determined and serum CK activity was measured. RESULTS: Blood pressure and pulse wave velocity were higher in black men and women (all p < 0.001) when compared to their white counterparts. CK activity only varied between black and white women (75.9 U/l vs 62.8 U/l, p = 0.009), even after adjusting for age, body mass index and physical activity. Despite the worse cardiovascular profile of black men and women, and the higher CK activity in the black women, we were unable to link blood pressure, pulse wave velocity or total peripheral resistance with CK activity, in the black African population. In white men, total peripheral resistance was associated with CK activity (R(2) = 0.32; β = 0.25; p = 0.009), whereas systolic blood pressure (R(2) = 0.46; β = 0.17; p = 0.03) and pulse pressure (R(2) = 0.31; β = 0.21; p = 0.01) were associated with CK activity in white women. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of associations in the black African population suggests that the link between a worse cardiovascular profile and CK activity may be overshadowed by other contributing factors. Whereas, the established link between cardiovascular function and CK activity in the white groups may be the result of enhanced smooth muscle cell contractility and/or attenuated nitric oxide synthesis capacity. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12872-016-0315-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.