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Increased ventricular sialylation in patients with heart failure secondary to ischemic heart disease
J R Crook1, J H Goldman, M Dalziel
1Department of Cardiological Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, London, U.K.
Insights
Sialic acid levels in heart tissue are significantly higher in patients with ischemic heart failure compared to dilated cardiomyopathy and controls. This finding may link cardiac sialylation to cardiovascular mortality.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Cardiology
- Pathology
Background:
- Elevated serum sialic acids correlate with increased cardiovascular mortality.
- Cardiac tissue sialic acid levels have not been previously investigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify and compare myocardial sialic acid levels in patients with heart failure secondary to ischemic heart disease, idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), and controls.
- To explore the relationship between cardiac sialylation and cardiovascular disease.
Main Methods:
- Myocardial samples were obtained from heart failure patients (ischemic and DCM) and non-cardiovascular controls.
- Ventricular sialylation was measured using sialic acid-specific lectins Maackia amurensis agglutinin (MAA) and Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA) via chemiluminescence assay.
- Results were expressed as the percentage of lectin binding to a standardized human myocardium control.
Main Results:
- Ventricular sialylation recognized by MAA was significantly higher in ischemic heart failure patients (55%) compared to DCM (26%) and controls (32%).
- Ventricular sialylation recognized by SNA was significantly higher in ischemic heart failure patients (69%) compared to DCM (42%) and controls (38%).
- No significant difference in ventricular sialylation was found between DCM patients and controls.
Conclusions:
- Myocardial sialic acid levels are significantly elevated in heart failure due to ischemic heart disease.
- These findings suggest a potential role for cardiac sialylation in cardiovascular mortality.
- Further research is warranted to investigate the link between serum and cardiac sialic acid concentrations and cardiovascular outcomes.
Background:
Elevated serum sialic acids are associated with increased cardiovascular mortality, but sialic acid levels have not been studied in cardiac tissue.
Methods:
Myocardial samples were obtained at the time of transplantation from 23 patients (age 54 +/- 12 years) with heart failure secondary to ischemic heart disease and 16 patients (age 51 +/- 7 years) with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). A control group comprised postmortem samples obtained from 14 patients (age 70 +/- 5 years) who died of non-cardiovascular causes. Ventricular sialylation was quantitated using the sialic acid-specific lectins Maackia amurensis agglutinin (MAA) and Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA) using a chemiluminescence assay. Results are expressed as the percentage (+/-standard error of the mean) of the binding of lectin to a standardized control sample of human myocardium.
Results:
Ventricular sialylation recognized by MAA was 55 +/- 7% in patients with heart failure secondary to ischemic heart disease compared with 26 +/- 7% for DCM (p = 0.006) and 32 +/- 8% for controls (p = 0.04), and that recognized by SNA was 69 +/- 7% in patients with heart failure secondary to ischemic heart disease compared with 42 +/- 6% for DCM (p = 0.006) and 38 +/- 7% for controls (p = 0.006). No significant difference in ventricular sialylation was observed between patients with DCM and controls.
Conclusion:
Myocardial levels of sialic acids are significantly increased in patients with heart failure secondary to ischemic heart disease compared with patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and controls. Our findings are important in view of recent reports of an association between serum sialic acid concentration and cardiovascular mortality and require further investigation.