Association Between Skin Autofluorescence and Coronary Heart Disease in Chinese General Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between SAF and CHD in the general population of China and to assess the feasibility of SAF used as a predictor of CHD.

Methods

This study was nested within the prospective study REACTION (Cancer Risk Assessment in Chinese Diabetic Population) which included a total of 5806 eligible participants from two communities located in urban Beijing in 2018. SAF were measured using a fluorescence detector (DM Scan). CHD was the study endpoint and was determined by a face-to-face clinical survey. Pearson's correlation analysis, linear regression analysis, and binary logistic regression analysis were used to examine the association between SAF and CHD.

Results

The overall prevalence of CHD in the general population was 12.1%. Logistic analysis showed that after full adjustment for confounding factors, the risk of CHD increased significantly with increasing lnSAF quartiles (p-trend < 0.05). Compared to Q1 group, the multivariate adjusted ORs of Q2 and Q3 groups were 1.071 (0.817, 1.404), 1.025 (0.781, 1.344), respectively, and the OR was markedly increased at Q4 (OR = 1.377 [1.043, 1.817]). When lnSAF was a continuous variable, the risk of CHD increased with the elevation of lnSAF level. Stratified analysis showed that in subgroups with overweight (24–28 kg/m²), eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m², and diabetes mellitus (DM), lnSAF was still significantly correlated with CHD.

Conclusions

In Chinese general population, higher lnSAF is independently associated with increased risk of CHD, and noninvasive SAF holds the potential to be a biomarker for CHD risk evaluation and stratification.