Soluble ST2 and GDF15 biomarkers analysis in atrial fibrillation.
Abstract
Objective: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common and clinically relevant
supra-ventricular arrhythmia which represents an independent risk factor
for development of heart failure as well as for ischemic stroke.
Clinical management of this pathology can be still challenging in many
patients, in particular the older ones and/or those which present
comorbidity. The interest in biomarkers for diagnosis and management of
the AF becomes more evident in recent years. We studied the possible
role of the soluble sST2 and the GDF15 as biomarkers to stratify the
risk of patients with persistent or permanent AF. Method: The serum
concentrations of these biomarkers have been measured in a group of 58
patients (mean age 83.6 6.0 years) and in a control set of 40
individuals. Results: The mean serum concentration of sST2 is 22.6
(18.85-25.35) ng/mL in the AF group, while in the control is 17.25
(15.7-18.9) ng/mL (p<0.05). The corresponding data for the
GDF15 are 1579 (975-3213) pg/mL and 850 (438-1234) pg/mL, respectively.
Remarkable differences have been obtained for the two subsets of
patients with persistent and permanent AF (sST2: (23 (21.2-24) ng/mL vs
30 (28.6-32) ng/mL, GDF15: 1347 (837-3320) vs 1931 (1238-3178)). The
analysis has been completed with a trans thoracic echocardiographic exam
to evaluate the left atrium size and the left ventricular ejection
fraction. The results have been discussed to enhance the correlation
between the instrumental and laboratory results. Conclusions:The present
study suggests a possible clinical valuable role of the two biomarkers
considered to refine the stratification risk in patients as the cohort
here studied. A comparison between the two biomarkers is presented and
discussed. The main pathological conditions that could increase the
biomarkers are evaluated.