Subclinical cardiovascular disease is associated with a high glomerular filtration rate in the nondiabetic general population

A reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in chronic kidney disease is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, evidence indicates that a high GFR may also be a cardiovascular risk factor. This issue remains unresolved due to a lack of longitudinal studies of manifest cardiovascular disease with precise GFR measurements. Here, we performed a cross-sectional study of the relationship between high GFR measured as iohexol clearance and subclinical cardiovascular disease in the Renal Iohexol Clearance Survey in Tromsø 6 (RENIS-T6), a representative sample of the middle-aged general population. A total of 1521 persons without cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, or micro- or macroalbuminuria were examined with carotid ultrasonography and electrocardiography. The GFR in the highest quartile was associated with an increased odds ratio of having total carotid plaque area greater than the median of non-zero values (odds ratio 1.56, 95% confidence interval 1.02–2.39) or electrocardiographic signs of left ventricular hypertrophy (odds ratio 1.62, 95% confidence interval 1.10–2.38) compared to the lowest quartile. The analyses were adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors, urinary albumin excretion, and fasting serum glucose. Thus, high GFR is associated with carotid atherosclerosis and left ventricular hypertrophy and should be investigated as a possible risk factor for manifest cardiovascular disease in longitudinal studies.