ABSTRACT
Objective
Despite the strong correlation between elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and hypertension, their bi-directional and temporal relationship are currently unclear. Our study aimed to explore the bi-directional and temporal association between elevated ALT (ALT > 40 U/L) and hypertension.
Methods
Measurements of alanine aminotransferase and blood pressure were obtained twice from 2013 to 2017 in 3314 Chinese adults without cardiovascular disease at baseline. Bi-directional and cross-lagged panel analyses were performed to dissect the temporal relationship between elevated ALT and hypertension.
Results
Longitudinally, we found that baseline elevated ALT was strongly correlated with incident hypertension (odds ratios = 2.16, P = .001), and baseline hypertension was also significantly associated with incident elevated ALT (odds ratios = 1.64, P = .026). The cross-lagged path coefficients from baseline ALT to follow-up blood pressure were significantly greater than that from baseline blood pressure to follow-up ALT (β: 0.043 vs. 0.026, P < .05 for systolic blood pressure and β: 0.052 vs. 0.024, P < .05 for diastolic blood pressure).
Conclusion
Our results provide evidence for the bi-directional association of elevated ALT and hypertension among Chinese adults, and elevated ALT probably antedates the development of hypertension.
Disclosure statement
There are no conflicts of interest.
Author contributions
All authors contributed to the findings of the study. Guoxin Huang and Hui Zhou wrote the manuscript of the study; Chao Shen, Yihui Sheng and Ruyu Xue were involved in the data analysis; Chen Dong engaged in the whole process of the study; Shaoyan Zhang designed the research, performed the data analysis, and revised the manuscript.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.