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Published on: January 28, 2020
Increased Serum Level of Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF-15) is Associated with Coronary Artery Disease
Xia Wang1, Lei-Lei Chen2, Qing Zhang3
1Department of Clinical laboratory, Huai'an First People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Huai'an, China.
Insights
Elevated serum levels of Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF-15) are significantly associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). GDF-15 shows high accuracy in predicting CAD, suggesting its potential as a diagnostic biomarker.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Biomarkers
- Inflammation
Background:
- Inflammatory responses are implicated in coronary artery disease (CAD) development.
- Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF-15), a stress-responsive cytokine, increases during inflammation and is linked to cardiometabolic risk.
- The specific relationship between GDF-15 and CAD is not well-established.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate serum GDF-15 levels in patients with CAD.
- To determine the predictive value of GDF-15 for CAD.
- To assess the correlation between GDF-15 levels and CAD severity.
Main Methods:
- Serum GDF-15 levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 105 CAD patients and 96 healthy controls.
- Coronary artery disease severity was assessed using Gensini scores.
- Spearman's correlation and ROC curve analysis were employed to examine associations and predictive values.
Main Results:
- Serum GDF-15 levels were significantly higher in the CAD group compared to controls (P < 0.001).
- A strong positive correlation was found between GDF-15 levels and Gensini scores (r = 0.85, P < 0.001).
- ROC analysis indicated a high predictive value for GDF-15 in CAD detection (AUC = 0.96), with 80.0% sensitivity and 91.7% specificity.
Conclusions:
- Increased serum GDF-15 levels are positively associated with the presence and severity of CAD.
- GDF-15 demonstrates potential as a valuable adjunct biomarker for discriminating CAD.
- Further research may explore GDF-15's role in CAD pathogenesis and management.
Aim:
There is evidence suggesting that inflammatory responses play a critical role in the development of coronary artery disease (CAD). Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) is a stress-responsive cytokine. It increases during inflammatory processes and is associated with cardiometabolic risk. However, the relation between GDF-15 and CAD remains largely unknown. Herein, we aimed to evaluate serum GDF-15 levels and predictive values in patients with CAD.
Methods:
Serum levels of GDF-15 in 105 patients with CAD and 96 healthy controls were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Gensini scores were used to assess severity of CAD. The correlations between the serum GDF-15 levels and Gensini scores were examined using Spearman's correlation. Receivers operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to determine the predictive values of GDF-15 levels.
Results:
We found that serum GDF-15 levels were significantly increased in CAD group compared with healthy controls group (P < 0.001). Additionally, a positive correlation was observed between GDF-15 and the Gensini score (r = 0.85, P < 0.001). Moreover, the area under the ROC curve assay yielded a satisfactory result of 0.96 (95% confidence interval 0.94-0.98; P < 0.001), and the serum GDF-15 level had a 80.0% sensitivity and 91.7% specificity for predicting CAD.
Conclusions:
These data suggested that increased GDF-15 levels were positively associated with CAD, and GDF-15 might be a useful adjunct in discriminating CAD.
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