Olle Melander, M.D., Ph.D., from Lund University in Malmö, Sweden, and colleagues measured plasma levels of proneurotensin in 4,632 fasting participants of the population-based Malmö Diet and Cancer Study to examine whether fasting plasma concentrations of a 117-amino acid fragment correlated with development of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and mortality. Participants were followed for 13.2 to 15.7 years, depending on the disease.

The researchers found that, overall, proneurotensin was related to risk of incident diabetes (142 events; hazard ratio [HR], 1.28), cardiovascular disease (519 events; HR, 1.17), and cardiovascular mortality (174 events; HR, 1.29). For cardiovascular disease, there was a significant interaction between proneurotensin and sex. For women only, proneurotensin correlated with incident diabetes (74 events; HR, 1.41), cardiovascular disease (224 events; HR, 1.33), breast cancer (123 events; HR, 1.44), total mortality (285 events; HR, 1.13), and cardiovascular mortality (75 events; HR, 1.50).

"Fasting proneurotensin was significantly associated with the development of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and with total and cardiovascular mortality," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Sphingo Tec GmbH, which holds the patent rights for use of proneurotensin. One author is listed as an inventor on the same patent application.

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