High proinsulin levels precede first-ever stroke in a nondiabetic population

Background and Purpose-Diabetic subjects have a 3- to 6-fold increased risk for stroke compared with nondiabetic subjects, and hyperinsulinemia shows strong and consistent associations with a cluster of cardiovascular risk fa ctors. Methods separating proinsulin from (true) insulin have demonstrated proinsulin to be more strongly associated with cardiovascular disease than insulin. The present study evaluates the associations between first-ever st roke, proinsulin, and insulin. Methods-In this incident case-referent study of a nondiabetic population, 9 4 cases of first-ever stroke (59 men and 35 women) were individually age- a nd sex-matched to 178 referents. Blood sampling was collected before the st roke event. Proinsulin and insulin were measured with highly sensitive 2-si te sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Results-In the study population, high proinsulin concentration more than tr ipled the risk for first-ever stroke after adjustments for total cholestero l, systolic blood pressure, smoking, body mass index, and insulin, with an odds ratio of 3.4 (95% CI, 1.4 to 8.4). In women the risk was even more pro nounced, with an odds ratio of 13.7 (95% CI, 1.3 to 146). Synergy was found between proinsulin and systolic blood pressure. In women, synergy was also found between proinsulin and diastolic blood pressure as well as between i nsulin and both blood pressures. Conclusions-High levels of proinsulin may predict later occurrence of first -ever stroke in a nondiabetic population.