A graded association was found between sST2 (HR 2.76 [95% CI 1.20–6.33] for ≥ 32.0 ng/mL and 2.00 [1.02–3.94] for 16.5–32.0 ng/mL compared to < 16.5 ng/mL, C-statistic = 0.729), NT-proBNP (HR 2.04 [1.90–4.55] for ≥ 337 ng/L and 1.48 [1.05–2.10] for 89–337 ng/L compared to < 89 ng/L, C-statistic = 0.741), and 15-year mortality in T2DM, whereas increased mortality was observed in patients with hs-cTnI ≥ 7.8 ng/L (HR 1.63 [1.01–2.62]). Here, TNNI3 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.