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Gunnar Engström

Publications and source records attributed to Gunnar Engström.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2026

The proteomic profile of leisure time physical activity across two decades: implications for future cardiovascular risk and mortality.

AIMS: We aimed to (i) investigate associations between leisure time physical activity level cumulated over 20 years and multiple plasma proteins and (ii) explore if proteins significantly associated with physical activity are also associated with risk of imminent myocardial infarction (MI), long-term MI, and mortality. METHODS AND RESULTS: In the cohort Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men, leisure time physical activity was self-reported at Ages 50, 60, and 70. At Age 70, 720 plasma proteins were analysed in 782 participants with up to 19.3 years of follow-up for MI and 26.3 years follow-up for mortality. In the nested case-cohort study Markers of Imminent Myocardial Infarction, plasma proteins were measured in disease-free individuals from six European cohorts. Cases (n = 420) were those with acute MI within 6 months of a blood draw, with up to four cohort representatives per case (n = 1598). A higher level of leisure time physical activity level was inversely associated with 12 plasma proteins after adjusting for age, education, smoking, and established cardiovascular risk factors (Bonferroni-corrected P < 0.000069). Of these 12 proteins, interleukin-6 was associated with increased incidence of imminent MI [hazard ratio, HR 1.22; 95% confidence interval, CI (1.09-1.37)], tumour necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 11A was associated with increased long-term MI incidence [HR 1.22 (1.01-1.48)] and 11 proteins were associated with increased mortality [HR 1.14-1.30 (1.01-1.42)]. CONCLUSION: These findings confirm and extend our understanding of how physical activity could assert its beneficial effect on cardiovascular health through proteins involved with modulating inflammatory, immune, and metabolic pathways. Further research is needed to explore the causal mechanisms behind these associations. LAY SUMMARY: In this study, we aimed to investigate (i) whether leisure time physical activity level cumulated over 20 years is associated with 720 plasma proteins and (ii) if proteins that are significantly associated with leisure time physical activity level across 20 years in Part 1 are also associated with imminent and long-term risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and mortality.Higher physical activity level over 20 years was inversely associated with 12 plasma proteins involved in inflammatory, immune, and metabolic processes. Several plasma proteins were in turn associated with MI and mortality.Findings confirm and extend our understanding how physical activity could assert its beneficial effect on cardiovascular health via the circulating plasma proteins.

Humans↗
PubMed2026

Reliability of resting heart rate measurements in atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: Heart rate (HR) control in atrial fibrillation (AF) is commonly guided by resting HR measurements, usually with 12&#x2011;lead ECG or in-office pulse palpation. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess the reliability of resting HR measurements in AF patients with long-term ambulatory ECG and activity monitoring. METHODS: We included patients who had recorded a full-disclosure ambulatory ECG with a mobile cardiac telemetry device equipped with an accelerometer (PocketECG, MEDICALgorithmics, Poland), with at least 95% AF. Resting HR samples (&#x2264;20 per individual/day) were collected as 10-s daytime (8&#xa0;am to 8&#xa0;pm) measurements after &#x2265;10&#xa0;min of rest. These samples were compared to each individual's mean daytime resting HR. RESULTS: In 832 patients (median age 77 (interquartile range (IQR) 69-83) years, 42% women) with a median registration duration of 13&#xa0;days (IQR 7-22), the population mean daytime resting HR was 85 (&#xb1;15) beats per minute (bpm). A single resting HR differed from the mean daytime resting HR by a mean of &#xb1;10.4% (IQR 3.6-14.4%). When the mean daytime resting HR was &#x2265;110&#xa0;bpm, 29% of resting HR samples were&#xa0;<&#xa0;110&#xa0;bpm, and when the mean daytime resting HR was 80-109&#xa0;bpm,11% of samples were&#xa0;&#x2265;&#xa0;110&#xa0;bpm. Resting HR measurement variability decreased to 5.3% (IQR 1.9-7.5%) when four resting HR samples were averaged. CONCLUSION: In patients with AF, a single resting HR measurement often differs substantially from the mean daytime resting HR. When a precise measurement is clinically relevant, repeated resting HR sampling or ambulatory monitoring can address this measurement imprecision.

Humans↗
PubMed2025

Genome-wide association study meta-analysis provides insights into the etiology of heart failure and its subtypes.

Heart failure (HF) is a major contributor to global morbidity and mortality. While distinct clinical subtypes, defined by etiology and left ventricular ejection fraction, are well recognized, their genetic determinants remain inadequately understood. In this study, we report a genome-wide association study of HF and its subtypes in a sample of 1.9 million individuals. A total of 153,174 individuals had HF, of whom 44,012 had a nonischemic etiology (ni-HF). A subset of patients with ni-HF were stratified based on left ventricular systolic function, where data were available, identifying 5,406 individuals with reduced ejection fraction and 3,841 with preserved ejection fraction. We identify 66 genetic loci associated with HF and its subtypes, 37 of which have not previously been reported. Using functionally informed gene prioritization methods, we predict effector genes for each identified locus, and map these to etiologic disease clusters through phenome-wide association analysis, network analysis and colocalization. Through heritability enrichment analysis, we highlight the role of extracardiac tissues in disease etiology. We then examine the differential associations of upstream risk factors with HF subtypes using Mendelian randomization. These findings extend our understanding of the mechanisms underlying HF etiology and may inform future approaches to prevention and treatment.

Humans↗