Schill F, Persson M, Engström G, et al. - In the general population, an association of copeptin (the precursor peptide of vasopressin) with both coronary atherosclerosis and increased arterial stiffness was identified. Copeptin could represent a valuable marker in the evaluation of cardiovascular risk.

• A population-based, cross-sectional study of 5,303 persons to determine if increased copeptin is related to markers of atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis in the general population.

• Among participants, coronary artery calcium score (CACS), carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (c-f PWV) and fasting plasma copeptin were recorded.

• A significant association of the top tertile of copeptin, vs reference tertile 1, with both high CACS (>100) and high c-f PWV (>10 m/s) was evident post-adjustments with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.260 for CACS and OR 1.389 for PWV.