Elevated plasma endocan and BOC in heart failure patients decrease after heart transplantation in association with...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Biomarker Discovery
• Transplantation Medicine

Background:

• Heart failure (HF) prevalence is increasing globally, often complicated by pulmonary hypertension (PH), impacting survival.
• A link between HF, PH, and tumorigenic processes has been proposed.
• Left heart disease (LHD) is a common cause of HF and PH.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify plasma levels of tumor-related proteins in patients with HF and PH due to LHD.
• To assess the association between these proteins and hemodynamic improvements after heart transplantation (HT).

Main Methods:

• Proximity extension assay was used to measure 48 tumor-related proteins in plasma from controls and HF patients.
• Plasma samples were collected before and 1 year after HT.
• Hemodynamic parameters were measured using right heart catheterization.

Main Results:

• Plasma endocan and brother of CDO (BOC) levels were significantly elevated in end-stage HF patients compared to controls.
• Following HT, endocan and BOC levels decreased, approaching control levels.
• Decreased endocan correlated with improved pulmonary arterial pressure and resistance.
• Decreased BOC correlated with improved right atrial pressure, NT-proBNP, cardiac index, and left-ventricular stroke work index.

Conclusions:

• Plasma endocan may reflect pulmonary vascular congestion and PH in HF patients.
• Plasma BOC may indicate cardiac function and hemodynamic overload in HF.
• Larger studies are required to validate the clinical utility of these proteins as biomarkers for HF and PH-LHD.