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Is plasma cardiotrophin-1 a marker of hypertensive heart disease?
Begoña López1, Arantxa González, Juan J Lasarte
1Area of Cardiovascular Pathophysiology, Centre for Applied Medical Research, School of Medicine, University of Navarra, Navarra, Spain.
Insights
Plasma cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) is elevated in hypertensive patients, particularly those with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). CT-1 levels correlate with LVH, suggesting its potential as a biomarker for hypertensive heart disease screening.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Medicine
- Biomarkers
- Hypertension Research
Background:
- Essential hypertension is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease.
- Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a key indicator of hypertensive heart disease.
- Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) is a cytokine implicated in cardiac remodeling.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between plasma CT-1 levels and LVH in patients with essential hypertension.
- To determine if CT-1 can serve as a biomarker for hypertensive heart disease.
Main Methods:
- A novel enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed to measure plasma CT-1.
- Plasma CT-1 was measured in 31 normotensive subjects and 111 hypertensive patients (with and without LVH).
- Echocardiography was used to assess left ventricular hypertrophy.
Main Results:
- Plasma CT-1 levels were significantly higher in hypertensive patients compared to normotensive individuals (P < 0.001).
- Hypertensive patients with LVH exhibited higher CT-1 levels than those without LVH (P < 0.001).
- A direct correlation was observed between plasma CT-1 and left ventricular mass index (r = 0.319, P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
- Plasma CT-1 concentration is associated with LVH in essential hypertension.
- CT-1 may represent a valuable, non-invasive biomarker for the initial screening and diagnosis of hypertensive heart disease.
Objective:
This study was designed to investigate whether plasma concentration of cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1), a cytokine that induces cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and stimulates cardiac fibroblasts, is related to hypertensive heart disease, as defined by the presence of echocardiographically assessed left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).
Methods:
The study was performed in 31 normotensive subjects and 111 patients with never-treated essential hypertension (54 without LVH and 57 with LVH). Causes of LVH other than hypertension were excluded after a complete medical workup. A novel enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed to measure plasma CT-1.
Results:
Plasma CT-1 was increased (P < 0.001) in hypertensives compared with normotensives. The value of CT-1 was higher (P < 0.001) in hypertensives with LVH than in hypertensives without LVH. Some 31% of patients without LVH exhibited values of CT-1 above the upper normal limit in normotensives. A direct correlation was found between CT-1 and left ventricular mass index (r = 0.319, P < 0.001) in all subjects. Receiver operating characteristic curves showed that a cutoff of 39 fmol/ml for CT-1 provided 75% specificity and 70% sensitivity for predicting LVH with a relative risk of 6.21 (95% confidence interval, 2.95 to 13.09).
Conclusions:
These results show an association between LVH and the plasma concentration of CT-1 in essential hypertension. Although preliminary, these findings suggest that the determination of CT-1 may be an easy and reliable method for the initial screening and diagnosis of hypertensive heart disease.
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