An organic compound called gluconic acid could serve as a way to identify high blood pressure and stroke risk in Black adults, early research suggests.
By Don
Rauf
Black adults
may face a greater risk of high blood pressure and stroke if
they are found to have a high level of an organic compound called gluconic acid
in their body, according to preliminary research presented at the American
Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2023 in Dallas (held
February 8–10). The study has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
“Whether
gluconic acid causes high blood pressure or vice versa is yet to be
determined in a future study,” says the lead study author, Naruchorn
Kijpaisalratana, MD, PhD a research fellow in neurology at Massachusetts
General Hospital in Boston. “We think that gluconic acid is a dietary related
marker of inflammation, and those with higher stroke risk would have higher
gluconic acid level.”
Marker
Linked to Cardio Problems in Black but Not White Adults
For the
study, Dr. Kijpaisalratana and colleagues examined blood samples collected from
1,075 ischemic stroke survivors during an average follow-up period of seven
years. (In an ischemic stroke, a blood clot blocks or narrows an artery leading
to the brain.)
Of those,
439 were Black adults and 636 were white adults. Their average age was 70, and
participants were about 50 percent male and 50 percent female. The scientists
compared these blood results with samples drawn from a group of nearly 1,000
Black and white adults who were similar in age but had not had a stroke.
Samples were collected from participants over a four-year period from 2003 to
2007.
Elevated
amounts of gluconic acid were found in the samples taken from Black adults who
had high blood pressure, but not white participants with high blood pressure.
Black adults with the highest gluconic acid levels were 86 percent more likely
to have high blood pressure than those with low gluconic acid levels. Black
adults with the highest gluconic acid levels also had a 53 percent increased
risk of ischemic stroke, but no such association was seen in white
participants.
A
Biomarker Tied to Lifestyle Practices
The results
suggested that higher gluconic acid levels among the Black participants may be
related to lifestyle habits — such as consuming foods high in fats, fried
foods, processed meats, and sugary drinks (which are often part of a “Southern
diet”), as well as a lack of physical activity. Kijpaisalratana added that
education levels may also be associated with lifestyle and health behaviors.
“We
hypothesize that the changes in behavior including eating a healthy diet and
more physical activity would lower gluconic acid levels,” she explains. “But
this would require another experimental study to confirm our hypothesis.”
Why
Scientists Focused on Gluconic Acid
Gluconic
acid is a type of metabolite. Metabolites are substances made or used when
the body breaks down food, drugs, chemicals, or its own tissue (for example,
fat or muscle tissue). Past research has demonstrated that metabolites are
linked to oxidative stress – a condition that may occur when there are too many
unstable molecules called free radicals in the body and not enough antioxidants
to get rid of them. A growing body of evidence suggests that oxidative stress
may play a role in the development of hypertension.
The
researchers focused on gluconic acid after screening 162 metabolites
that are relevant to human metabolism; they found that gluconic acid
was the only metabolite that demonstrated racial differences.
“What
surprised us was that we identified a metabolite that has racial differences in
association with the diseases, and this metabolite was linked to social
determinants of health including diet, education, and exercise,” said
Kijpaisalratana.
Gluconic
acid may be considered a dietary-related marker because of its availability in
foods (such as fruits, wine, and honey), and it is potentially produced by the
gut microbiome, according to study authors. They emphasized that gluconic acid
at this point is just a marker of inflammation, and has not been proven to be a
cause.
“Our
findings did not demonstrate that gluconic acid by itself is harmful,” says
Kijpaisalratana. “We demonstrated that gluconic acid could be a marker that
links to several health behaviors. Therefore, we suggest that people should
maintain their healthy lifestyle through eating healthy and exercising
regularly.”
A
Potential Tool to Identify Heart Disease Risks
Bruce
Oybiagele, MD an associate dean and professor of neurology at the University of
California in San Francisco and an American Heart Association expert volunteer,
notes that gluconic acid could be a helpful tool for healthcare providers in
spotting Black adults who are in danger of having a stroke.
“Given the
long-standing higher risk of stroke in Black compared to white adults in the
United States, which is so far still not fully explained by a higher frequency
of traditional stroke risk factors, the potential discovery of a new prognostic
marker or therapeutic target is extremely important,” says Dr. Ovbiagele, who
was not involved in the study.
He added
that gluconic acid might “serve as an objective measure to inform healthcare
professionals about how well their patients are doing in reducing hypertension
and stroke risk and may also be helpful to motivate Black patients to modify
their lifestyles as appropriate to prevent stroke”
