Overview of cardiac markers in heart disease

Cardiac troponins I and T have been the cornerstone of diagnostics of acute coronary syndrome for almost 20 years. Natriuretic peptides have established themselves in heart failure during the last decade. These and additional promising biomarkers, such as ST-2, galectin-3, GDF-15, copeptin, midregional proadrenomedullin, and the markers of glomerular filtration rate and kidney injury, are reviewed in groups corresponding to the pathophysiological processes they probe--cardiomyocyte injury, myocyte stress, inflammation, oxidative stress, plaque instability, extracellular-matrix remodeling, or those markers grouped in the neurohormone category. Biomarkers linking the renal and cardiac functions and microRNAs and metabolomic markers are addressed as well.