Bioprofiles and mechanistic pathways associated with Cheyne-Stokes respiration: insights from the SERVE-HF trial

The SERVE-HF trial included patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) with sleep-disordered breathing, randomly assigned to treatment with Adaptive-Servo Ventilation (ASV) or control. The primary outcome was the first event of death from any cause, lifesaving cardiovascular intervention, or unplanned hospitalization for worsening heart failure. A subgroup analysis of the SERVE-HF trial suggested that patients with Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR) < 20% (low CSR) experienced a beneficial effect from ASV, whereas in patients with CSR ≥ 20% ASV might have been harmful. Identifying the proteomic signatures and the underlying mechanistic pathways expressed in patients with CSR could help generating hypothesis for future research.

Using a large set of circulating protein-biomarkers (n = 276, available in 749 patients; 57% of the SERVE-HF population) we sought to investigate the proteins associated with CSR and to study the underlying mechanisms that these circulating proteins might represent.

The mean age was 69 ± 10 years and > 90% were male. Patients with CSR < 20% (n = 139) had less apnoea-hypopnea index (AHI) events per hour and less oxygen desaturation. Patients with CSR < 20% might have experienced a beneficial effect of ASV treatment (primary outcome HR [95% CI] = 0.55 [0.34-0.88]; p = 0.012), whereas those with CSR ≥ 20% might have experienced a detrimental effect of ASV treatment (primary outcome HR [95% CI] = 1.39 [1.09-1.76]; p = 0.008); p for interaction = 0.001. Of the 276 studied biomarkers, 8 were associated with CSR (after adjustment and with a FDR1%-corrected p value). For example, higher PAR-1 and ITGB2 levels were associated with higher odds of having CSR < 20%, whereas higher LOX-1 levels were associated with higher odds of CSR ≥ 20%. Signalling, metabolic, haemostatic and immunologic pathways underlie the expression of these biomarkers.

We identified proteomic signatures that may represent underlying mechanistic pathways associated with patterns of CSR in HFrEF. These hypothesis-generating findings require further investigation towards better understanding of CSR in HFrEF.

PAR-1 proteinase-activated receptor 1, ADM adrenomedullin, HSP-27 heat shock protein-27, ITGB2 integrin beta 2, GLO1 glyoxalase 1, ENRAGE/S100A12 S100 calcium-binding protein A12, LOX-1 lectin-like LDL receptor 1, ADAM-TS13 disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member13 also known as von Willebrand factor-cleaving protease.