Alpha-1-antitrypsin-deficiency is associated with lower cardiovascular risk: an approach based on federated learning

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an inflammatory multisystemic disease caused by environmental exposures and/or genetic factors. Inherited alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is one of the best recognized genetic factors increasing the risk for an early onset COPD with emphysema. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the associations between comorbidities and specific biomarkers in COPD patients with and without AATD to enable future investigations aimed, for example, at identifying risk factors or improving care. Methods We focused on cardiovascular comorbidities, blood high sensitivity troponin (hs-troponin) and lipid profiles in COPD patients with and without AATD. We used clinical data from six German University Medical Centres of the MIRACUM (Medical Informatics Initiative in Research and Medicine) consortium. The codes for the international classification of diseases (ICD) were used for COPD as a main diagnosis and for comorbidities and blood laboratory data were obtained. Data analyses were based on the DataSHIELD framework. Results Out of 112,852 visits complete information was available for 43,057 COPD patients. According to our findings, 746 patients with AATD (1.73%) showed significantly lower total blood cholesterol levels and less cardiovascular comorbidities than non-AATD COPD patients. Moreover, after adjusting for the confounder factors, such as age, gender, and nicotine abuse, we confirmed that hs-troponin is a suitable predictor of overall mortality in COPD patients. The comorbidities associated with AATD in the current study differ from other studies, which may reflect geographic and population-based differences as well as the heterogeneous characteristics of AATD. Conclusion The concept of MIRACUM is suitable for the analysis of a large healthcare database. This study provided evidence that COPD patients with AATD have a lower cardiovascular risk and revealed that hs-troponin is a predictor for hospital mortality in individuals with COPD.