Manifold implications of obesity in ischemic heart disease among Japanese patients according to covariance structure analysis: Low reactivity of B-type natriuretic peptide as an intervening risk factor

Fig 1. Path model A: Explanatory drawing of possible cascade from BMI to IHD directly and via the low reactivity of BNP, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and HbA1c. This path has a coefficient showing the standardized coefficient of regressing independent variables on the dependent variable of the relevant path. These variables indicate standardized regression coefficients (direct effect) [simple capitals], squared multiple correlations [narrow italic capitals] and correlations among exogenous variables [capitals inside round brackets]. A two-way arrow between two variables indicates a correlation between those two variables. The total variance in a dependent variable for every regression is theorized to be caused by either independent variables of the model or extraneous variables (e). BMI: body mass index; BNP: B-type natriuretic peptide; e: extraneous variable.

Fig 2. Path models B1 and B2: explanatory drawing of Ppossible cascade from BMI to BNP and further to IHD. This path has a coefficient showing the standardized coefficient of regressing independent variables on the dependent variable of the relevant path. These variables indicate standardized regression coefficients (direct effect) [simple capitals], squared multiple correlations [narrow italic capitals] and correlations among exogenous variables [capitals inside round brackets]. BMI; body mass index; BNP: B-type natriuretic peptide; IHD: ischemic heart disease; e: extraneous variable. B1. Path model B1: a simple path model for the connection between BNP as a cause and IHD as an effect. B2. Path model B2: directional paths between BNP and IHD to distinguish between cause and effect.