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Prior reports have associated increased circulating levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), an endopeptidase active in the extracellular matrix, with the formation and rupture of aortic aneurysms, raising the possibility that MMP-9 may be a useful diagnostic or therapeutic target for aortic pathology. However, associations between MMP-9 and pathological abdominal aortic phenotypes in the general population have not been reported. In the Dallas Heart Study, a population-based sample of Dallas County residents (n = 2304), we measured MMP-9 and performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the abdominal aorta, measuring aortic compliance, plaque, wall thickness and luminal diameter. After adjustment for traditional cardiac risk factors and body size, higher MMP-9 quartiles were independently associated with higher aortic wall thickness and larger luminal diameter (p < 0.0001 for each), but not abdominal aortic plaque (p = 0.08), coronary artery calcium (p = 0.20) or the aortic luminal diameter/aortic wall thickness ratio (p = 0.37), supporting the hypothesis that therapies targeting MMP-9 may affect the abdominal aortic wall and modify aortic pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although neighborhood-level socioeconomic deprivation has been associated with obesity, its relationship with diabetes, a cardio-metabolic risk factor and determinant of cardiovascular health, is poorly understood. Methods and Results: We examined the relationship between neighborhood-level socioeconomic deprivation and prevalent diabetes in the Dallas Heart Study (DHS), a multi-ethnic, population-based sample of Dallas County residents aged 18-65 (N=1621). Participants underwent detailed examination between 2000-2002. Geocoded home addresses defined neighborhood block groups; a neighborhood-level deprivation index (NDI) for Dallas County was created using factor analysis based on 21 Census block-group characteristics (higher scores=greater neighborhoodlevel deprivation). Diabetes was defined by self-report, use of anti-hyperglycemic medication, or fasting glucose=126 mg/dl. Logistic regression modeling was used to determine odds of prevalent diabetes for those in highest vs. lowest NDI tertile. In DHS, diabetes prevalence was 5%, 13%, and 16% across NDI tertiles (p<0.001). In modeling diabetes, we found a significant interaction between race and NDI (p=0.03); therefore, models were race-stratified. White, Hispanic, and black DHS participants in neighborhoods in the highest NDI tertile were up to seven times more likely to have diabetes than those living in the lowest tertile (Table). In whites and Hispanics, higher deprivation remained associated with a greater likelihood of diabetes after adjustment for age, sex, smoking, and education and was only attenuated after adjusting for income. In contrast, adjustment for confounders attenuated the relationship between NDI and diabetes among blacks. Conclusions: Residing in socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods is associated with prevalent diabetes among whites and Hispanics in DHS. These data suggest racial/ethnic disparities in cardio-metabolic risk within areas of higher socioeconomic deprivation in Dallas County. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]