Immunoglobulin free light chains as an inflammatory biomarker of heart failure with myocarditis
Akira Matsumori1, Toshio Shimada2, Eiji Nakatani2
1Clinical Research Center, Kyoto Medical Center, Kyoto, Japan.
Background:
In this study, we measured immunoglobulin free light chains (FLC), a biomarker of inflammation in the sera of patients with heart failure due to myocarditis.
Methods:
FLC kappa and FLC lambda were assayed in stored serum samples from patients with heart failure with myocarditis from the US myocarditis treatment trial by a competitive-inhibition multiplex Luminex® assay.
Results:
The median concentration of circulating FLC kappa/lambda ratio was significantly lower in the sera from patients with heart failure with myocarditis than in healthy controls, and FLC kappa/lambda ratio had good diagnostic ability for identification of heart failure with myocarditis. Further, FLC kappa/lambda ratio was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival, and allowed creation of three prognostic groups by combining with N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide.
Conclusions:
This study suggests that FLC kappa/lambda ratio is a promising biomarker of heart failure with myocarditis.
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