C-Peptide and cardiovascular risk factors among young adults in a southern Brazilian cohort

BACKGROUND: Proinsulin connecting peptide (C-Peptide) is a marker of the beta-cell function and has been considered a marker of insulin resistance whose evidence suggests were associated with cardiovascular mortality. Our study aims to evaluate the association of C-Peptide with metabolic cardiovascular risk factors among young adults followed since birth in southern Brazil. METHODS: In 1982, maternity hospital in Pelotas, a southern Brazilian city, were visited daily and all births were identified. Live births whose family lived in the urban area of the city were identified, their mothers interviewed, and these subjects have been prospectively followed. Casual hyperglycemia patients were excluded from analysis. C-Peptide was assessed at 23 years, when transversely analyzed its association with cardiometabolic and hemodynamic risk factors, and longitudinally 30 years of age. RESULTS: At age 23, 4297 individuals were evaluated, and C-Peptide was measured in 3.807. In a cross-sectional analysis at 23 years of age, C-Peptide was positively associated with waist circumference, body mass index, glycaemia, triglycerides, and C-reactive protein. The association with HDL cholesterol was negative. In the longitudinal analysis at 30 years, C-Peptide remained associated with BMI, waist circumference, glycated hemoglobin, triglycerides, and C-reactive protein, whereas the association was negative for HDL. CONCLUSION: In the Pelotas birth cohort, the C-Peptide was associated with obesity indicators (waist circumference and BMI) cross-sectional (23 years) and longitudinal (30 years). We also observed cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of C-Peptide with cardiometabolic and inflammatory risk factors.