BACKGROUND
The natriuretic peptide (NP) family is a kind of hormones essential for cardiometabolic health,while Protein-Energy Malnutrition (PEM) represents a significant risk factor for cardiometabolic diseases. However, the relationship between PEM and NP deficiency remains unclear.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to examine the relationship between PEM and the prevalence of NP deficiency in the older population.
METHODS
In this study, we investigate associations between PEM and NP deficiency in a robust, ethnically diverse sample of 3011 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2004.
RESULTS
Our findings reveal that PEM is a risk factor for NP deficiency, with an association persisting even after adjusting for a wide array of potential confounders (low risk vs major risk: OR = 0.0000022038, 95% CI: 0.0000007555, 0.0000064287; no risk vs major risk: OR = 0.0000018288, 95% CI: 0.0000005588, 0.0000059850; P for trend = 0.22). Furthermore, we observe a U-shaped nonlinear association between PEM and NP deficiency. Subgroup analysis and interaction testing reveal significant correlations between this positive association and stratification variables including age, gender, race, alcohol status, poverty income ratio, education level, and hypertension (p for interaction < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
Our research demonstrates a significant association between PEM and NP deficiency. Further investigations could focus on determining the causal relationship between PEM and NP deficiency.