Serum metabolic characteristics and biomarkers of early-stage heart failure

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Metabolomics
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Heart failure (HF) is a complex clinical syndrome with significant morbidity and mortality.
• Early detection of HF is crucial for timely intervention and improved patient outcomes.
• Identifying specific metabolic signatures associated with early-stage HF can aid in diagnosis and management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify distinct metabolic profiles in patients with early-stage heart failure (New York Heart Association class I).
• To compare metabolic characteristics between early-stage HF (class I) and advanced HF (class II-IV).
• To discover and validate novel biomarkers for detecting early HF, particularly in patients with normal N-terminal-pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels.

Main Methods:

• Serum metabolic profiling was conducted on 143 patients with HF (class I-IV) and 34 healthy controls.
• Metabolites in class I HF patients were analyzed and compared to those in class II-IV HF patients.
• Potential biomarkers for early HF with normal NT-proBNP were screened and validated in an independent cohort of 72 subjects.

Main Results:

• Eleven metabolites were found to be significantly altered in early-stage HF (class I).
• Five of these altered metabolites were also observed in patients with advanced HF (class II-IV).
• Glutamine and tyrosine demonstrated high potential in identifying class I HF patients with normal NT-proBNP levels. Glutamine's diagnostic value was partially confirmed in the validation set.

Conclusions:

• Metabolic disturbances are present even in the early stages of heart failure.
• Specific metabolites, notably glutamine, hold promise as diagnostic biomarkers for early HF detection.
• Further research into glutamine's role could lead to improved non-invasive methods for identifying individuals with early-stage heart failure and normal NT-proBNP.