Abstract 15787: Depending on Chain Length Plasma Ceramides Are Associated With Higher or Lower Cardiorespiratory Fitness in the General Population

Introduction: Ceramides are promising new predictive biomarkers for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but their main mode of action is still unknown. As low cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is also linked with CVD, we investigated the association of three of the most abundant blood plasma ceramides and their respective ratios with CRF in a large population-based study. Hypothesis: Plasma long-chain ceramide levels are positively associated with higher CRF in the general population, while higher short-chain ceramide levels are associated with lower CRF. Methods: Levels of C16:0, C22:0, and C24:0 ceramide were quantified by a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and CRF was measured by a cardiopulmonary exercise test in the first follow-up of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-START-1; n = 1,105; mean age 50.3 years). Multivariable linear regression models were used to assess the association between ceramides and CRF. Results: Higher C24:0 levels as well as C24:0/C16:0 ratio were significantly associated with higher CRF, while higher levels of C22:0 or C22:0/C16:0 ratio were associated with lower CRF. Furthermore, we found that body mass index (BMI) interacts with these associations, whereas neither, sex, beta blockers nor lipid-lowering medication had any effect modifying influence. Conclusions: This study showed that ceramides are associated with CRF, one of the most important risk factors of CVD. Ceramide C24:0 as well as C24:0/C16:0 ratio might be beneficial regarding CRF, whereas C22:0 and C22:0/C16:0 ratio might be detrimental. Our study results were independent of many cardiovascular risk factors, which highlights ceramides as potential predictive biomarkers. Future studies with larger numbers of subjects are needed to verify these results, and to evaluate whether the observed interaction with BMI could limit the use to specific BMI subgroups.