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Novel Biomarkers for Evaluation of Endothelial Dysfunction
Ana Rita Leite1, Marta Borges-Canha1,2, Rita Cardoso1
1Departamento de Cirurgia e Fisiologia, Unidade de Investigação Cardiovascular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Insights
Novel circulating biomarkers like endothelial microparticles, endocan, and endoglin show promise for assessing endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular risk, offering a potential alternative to traditional methods.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Science
- Biomarker Discovery
Background:
- Endothelial dysfunction is an early sign of cardiovascular disease.
- Assessing endothelial function is crucial for risk stratification and treatment evaluation.
- Current methods like flow-mediated dilation have limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review novel circulating biomarkers for endothelial dysfunction.
- To evaluate the clinical applicability of endothelial microparticles, endocan, and endoglin.
Main Methods:
- Literature review focusing on novel biomarkers.
- Analysis of endothelial microparticles, endocan, and endoglin.
- Discussion of clinical utility criteria.
Main Results:
- Traditional methods for assessing endothelial function are operator-dependent.
- Circulating biomarkers offer a promising alternative.
- Endothelial microparticles, endocan, and endoglin are key novel markers under investigation.
Conclusions:
- Novel biomarkers require further validation for clinical practice.
- Endothelial microparticles, endocan, and endoglin warrant continued research for cardiovascular risk assessment.
Abstract:
Endothelial dysfunction is one of the earliest indicators of cardiovascular (CV) dysfunction, and its evaluation would be of considerable importance to stratify CV risk of many diseases and to assess the efficacy of atheroprotective treatments. Flow-mediated dilation is the most widely used method to study endothelial function. However, it is operator-dependent and can be influenced by physiological variations. Circulating biomarkers are a promising alternative. Due to the complexity of endothelial function, many of the biomarkers studied do not provide consistent information about the endothelium when measured alone. New circulating markers are being explored and some of them are thought to be suitable for the clinical setting. In this review, we focus on novel biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction, particularly endothelial microparticles, endocan, and endoglin, and discuss whether they fulfill the criteria to be applied in clinical practice.
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