Sex-specific cut-off values for soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (ST2) biomarker increase its cardiovascular prognostic value in the community

Abstract

Background

Suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (ST2) has important cardiovascular prognostic value in community patients; however, previous analyses have utilized non-sex specific cut-off values. We assessed whether sex-specific ST2 cut-off values would improve the prognostic utility of ST2 in the asymptomatic community.

Methods

A total of 2042 participants underwent clinical assessment and echocardiographic evaluation. Baseline measurements of high sensitivity troponin, natriuretic peptides and ST2 were obtained in 1681 individuals. ST2, cardiac biomarkers and associated co-morbidities were evaluated by sex-specific ST2 quartile analysis. ST2 concentrations were also analysed as dichotomous variables defined as being above the sex-specific cut-off for each the outcomes of heart failure (HF), major adverse cardiac event (MACE) and mortality.

Results

Median ST2 concentration was 29.4 ng/mL in male subjects and 24.1 ng/mL in female subjects. Higher ST2 concentrations were associated with incident HF (p<0.001; preserved ejection fraction (EF) p<0.001, reduced EF p=0.23), MACE (p=0.003) and mortality (p<0.001) across sex-specific quartiles. Event-based, hazard ratio (HR) analysis revealed sex-specific ST2 cut-offs were significantly more predictive of incident HF, MACE and mortality compared to non-sex-specific analysis even following adjustment for cardiac co-morbidities and traditional biomarkers.

Conclusions

These data suggest that sex-specific cut-offs, greater than non-sex specific cut-offs, significantly impact the prognostic value of the biomarker ST2 in the asymptomatic community cohort.

Clinical Significance

• Suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (ST2) is a biomarker which has known associations with heart failure (HF), major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) and mortality in the general population.

• Recent data support the concept of sex-specific cut off values and individualized approaches based on sex to predict cardiovascular disease. Given the difference in pathobiology between the sexes, the fact that such approaches improve risk stratification is understandable. Thus, when sex-specific treatments are developed, this may similarly lead to improved outcomes.

• The use of sex-specific ST2 cut-off values significantly improved the prognostic value in predicting HF, MACE, and mortality in an asymptomatic community. This prognostication was particularly strong for HF with preserved ejection fraction and remained clinically significant following adjustment for cardiac co-morbidities and other traditional cardiac biomarkers (NTproBNP and hscTnI).

Keywords:

• ST2
• community
• biomarkers
• prevention
• heart failure

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Margaret M. Redfield M.D. for her significant contributory work on this topic.

Disclosure statement

Dr. Jaffe presently or in the past has consulted for most of the major diagnostic companies including the ones used for measurements in this study. Dr. AbouEzzeddine reports interactions with Pfizer outside of the present work.

Data availability statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.