25‐Hydroxyvitamin D Levels and Markers of Subclinical Myocardial Damage and Wall Stress: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

BackgroundLow 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) is associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk. Less known is whether 25(OH)D deficiency contributes to subclinical myocardial damage and wall stress (high‐sensitivity cardiac troponin T [hs‐cTnT] and N‐terminal pro–brain natriuretic peptide [NT‐proBNP]) or whether associations vary among subgroups. Methods and ResultsOverall, 11 311 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities participants without prevalent cardiovascular disease had 25(OH)D, hs‐cTnT, and NT‐proBNP measured at baseline (1990–1992), and 8990 had measurements of hs‐cTnT and NT‐proBNP repeated 6 years later. We examined associations of deficient 25(OH)D (<20 ng/mL) with prevalent elevated hs‐cTnT (≥14 ng/L) and NT‐proBNP (≥100 pg/mL), change in hs‐cTnT and NT‐proBNP, and incident elevated hs‐cTnT and NT‐proBNP. We tested for interactions by age (<56 and ≥56 years), sex, and race. In fully adjusted models, 25(OH)D was not associated with prevalent elevated hs‐cTnT and NT‐proBNP. Deficient 25(OH)D,...