Circulating fibroblast growth factor 21 is associated with blood pressure in the Chinese population: a community-based study

Background Our research team previously found that fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 21, a circulating hormone, was significantly associated with atherosclerosis in human and animal models. The relationship between FGF21 and blood pressure (BP) is rarely studied in the Asian population. Therefore, we a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Juanying Zhen, Shuyun Liu, Lin Liu, Xiaodan Zheng, Guoru Zhao, Jianguo Liang, Aimin Xu, Chao Li, Lijie Ren, Jun Wu, Bernard Man Yung Cheung
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Annals of Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/07853890.2025.2500689
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background Our research team previously found that fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 21, a circulating hormone, was significantly associated with atherosclerosis in human and animal models. The relationship between FGF21 and blood pressure (BP) is rarely studied in the Asian population. Therefore, we aimed to explore the relationship of FGF21 with BP in a Chinese population.Methods We analysed data on 1051 participants from the Shenzhen–Hong Kong United Network on Cardiovascular Disease (SHUN-CVD) study.Results The medians of FGF21 level were 355.1 pg/mL (IQR 234.3–574.8 pg/mL) for hypertensive patients and 253.5 (IQR 136.9–403.3 pg/mL) for non-hypertensive participants. Ln-transformed FGF21 level was associated with both systolic and diastolic BP (systolic BP: B = 4.45 [95% CI 3.41–5.49]; p < .001; diastolic BP: B = 2.72 [95% CI 2.03–3.42]; p < .001). After adjusting for sex, age, body mass index, hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes, alcohol consumption, smoking and physical activity, the association remained significant (systolic BP: B = 1.99 [95% CI 1.01–2.97]; p < .001; diastolic BP: B = 1.36 [95% CI 0.69–2.04]; p < .001). Serum FGF21 level was associated with hypertension (quartile 4 vs. quartile 1, OR = 4.19 [95% CI 2.65–6.61]; p for trend < .001).Conclusions This is the first study to elucidate the relationship of FGF21 with BP in the Asian population. FGF21 is significantly associated with BP. Besides its use as a biomarker, FGF21 may be a new drug target for hypertension treatment.
ISSN:0785-3890
1365-2060