Effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Diet on Change in Cardiac Biomarkers Over Time: Results From the DASH‐Sodium Trial

BACKGROUND: The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet has been shown to reduce biomarkers of cardiovascular disease. We aimed to characterize the time course of change in biomarkers of cardiac injury (high‐sensitivity cardiac troponin I), cardiac strain (NT‐proBNP [N‐terminal pro‐B‐type natriuretic peptide]), and inflammation (hs‐CRP [high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein]) while consuming the DASH diet. METHODS AND RESULTS: The DASH‐Sodium trial was a randomized controlled trial of 412 adults with elevated blood pressure or hypertension. Participants were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of the DASH diet or a typical American diet. Energy intake was adjusted to maintain body weight. Measurements of high‐sensitivity cardiac troponin I, NT‐proBNP, and hs‐CRP were performed in stored serum specimens, collected at baseline and ≈4, 8, and 12 weeks after randomization. In both the control diet and DASH diet, levels of NT‐proBNP decreased; however, there was no difference between diets (P‐trend compared with control=0.22). On the DASH diet versus control, levels of high‐sensitivity cardiac troponin I decreased progressively during follow‐up (P‐trend compared with control=0.025), but a statistically significant between‐diet difference in change from baseline levels was not observed until week 12 (% difference, 17.78% [95% CI, −29.51% to −4.09%]). A similar pattern was evident for hs‐CRP (P‐trend compared with control=0.01; % difference at week 12, 19.97% [95% CI, −31.94% to −5.89%]). CONCLUSIONS: In comparison with a typical American diet, the DASH diet reduced high‐sensitivity cardiac troponin I and hs‐CRP progressively over 12 weeks. These results suggest that the DASH diet has cumulative benefits over time on biomarkers of subclinical cardiac injury and inflammation. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT00000608.