Gdf-15 and Soluble St2 As Biomarkers of Right Ventricular Dysfunction in Pulmonary Hypertension

Abstract

Background: This study analyzed the utility of soluble ST2 (sST2) and GDF-15 as biomarkers of right ventricular (RV) function in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH). Methods: GDF-15 and sST2 serum concentrations were measured in patients with PH (n = 628), dilated cardiomyopathy (n = 31) and left ventricular hypertrophy (n = 47), and in healthy controls (n = 61). Results: Median sST2 and GDF-15 levels in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy were higher than in patients with PH and dilated cardiomyopathy. In tertile analysis GDF-15 >1363 pg/ml and sST2 >38 ng/ml were associated with higher N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, RV systolic dysfunction, RV-pulmonary arterial uncoupling and hemodynamic impairment. Conclusion: GDF-15 and sST2 are potential biomarkers of RV dysfunction in patients with PH.

Keywords:

• biomolecules
• chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension
• dilated cardiomyopathy
• fibrosis
• heart failure
• idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension
• left ventricular hypertrophy
• right ventricular-pulmonary arterial coupling
• right ventricular maladaptation
• right ventricular remodeling

Supplementary data

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at: www.tandfonline.com/doi/suppl/10.2217/bmm-2022-0395

Author contributions

Study design: S Keranov, L Widmann, O Dörr, H Nef. Study conduct and data collection: S Keranov, L Widmann. Analysis and interpretation: L Widmann, S Keranov, O Dörr, C Liebetrau, T Keller, C Troidl, S Kriechbaum, S Voss, MJ Richter, K Tello, H Gall, HA Ghofrani, S Guth, W Seeger, CW Hamm, H Nef. Manuscript preparation: S Keranov, L Widmann, L Jafari, C Wiedenroth, P Bauer, C Liebetrau, T Keller, C Troidl, W Rutsatz, S Kriechbaum, S Voss, MJ Richter, K Tello, H Gall, HA Ghofrani, S Guth, W Seeger, CW Hamm, H Nef.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank E Martinson of the KHFI Editorial Office for her editorial assistance.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The project is funded by Collaborative Research Center 1213 Pulmonary Hypertension and Cor Pulmonale, German Research Foundation (DFG). The views expressed in this article do not communicate an official position of the DFG. The present analysis is based on a cohort that is part of the Kerckhoff Biomarker Registry (BioReg) that is financially supported by the Kerckhoff Heart Research Institute (KHFI) and the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval from The Institutional Review Board of the University of Giessen approved the study (application nos.199/15, 44/14, 100/13) and have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, all patients gave written informed consent before enrollment in this study