Are There Biomarkers That Portend Hypertension?

Using data from 1456 people without baseline hypertension in the Framingham Offspring Study, researchers sought to identify whether elevated baseline levels of specific biomarkers were associated with incident hypertension. Nine biomarkers were analyzed: C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), aldosterone, renin, B-type natriuretic peptide, N-terminal proatrial natriuretic peptide, homocysteine, and urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR).

During a mean follow-up of 3 years, 232 participants (16%) developed hypertension. Multivariable analyses showed that the overall panel of biomarker measurements significantly predicted incident hypertension but that only three individual components (CRP, PAI-1, and…