Cardiovascular disease risk prediction in scleroderma

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Rheumatology
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) poses a significant risk for patients with scleroderma.
• Accurate CVD risk prediction is crucial for timely intervention and management in scleroderma.
• Current risk assessment models may benefit from novel, noninvasive biomarkers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between cardiac myosin-binding protein-C (cMyC-C), sensitive troponin T (sTnT), and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) with CVD risk in scleroderma.
• To evaluate the utility of these biomarkers in conjunction with the Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation 2 (SCORE 2) model.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 52 women with scleroderma and 38 healthy controls were assessed.
• Levels of cMyC-C, sTnT, and TMAO were quantified using commercial ELISA kits.
• Patients were categorized into low and high-moderate CVD risk groups based on the SCORE 2 model.

Main Results:

• Scleroderma patients exhibited significantly higher levels of cMyC-C and TMAO compared to controls (p<0.001 for both).
• sTnT levels did not differ significantly between scleroderma patients and controls (p=0.274).
• TMAO and cMyC-C demonstrated good discriminatory ability for high-moderate CVD risk (sensitivity 76% and 75%, specificity 86% and 83%, respectively).
• Elevated TMAO (≥10.28 ng/mL) and cMyC-C (≥8.29 ng/mL) were independently associated with significantly higher SCORE 2 risk (OR: 15.00 and 11.00, respectively).

Conclusions:

• cMyC-C and TMAO are potential noninvasive biomarkers for assessing CVD risk in scleroderma.
• These biomarkers can aid in differentiating between low and high-moderate CVD risk strata within the SCORE 2 framework.
• Further research is warranted to integrate these findings into clinical practice for improved scleroderma patient management.